ABSTRACT
A survey was undertaken to identify stressful situations of rural hospital nurses and to examine their stress level in relation to coping strategies, particularly social support. Eighty-seven nurses, aged 25-65 years, from rural hospitals completed the survey. Results indicated that while the stressors were similar to those identified in the literature for urban nurses and urban nursing students the frequency and importance differed. These findings are discussed in light of the unique stressors experienced by rural nurses. Results indicated a positive relationship between nursing stress and emotion-focused coping and between stress and social support. These findings are discussed in relation to Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) stress and coping model.
