Evaluating the Relationship Between Subjective Mental Workload and Coping Strategies in Nursing Students

One of the factors influencing the quality of patient care and the desirable outcomes of nursing services is the mental workload; most individuals prefer specific coping strategies to reduce stress and mental workload in stressful situations. Coping strategies are a set of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral efforts to change stressful situations. The present study was conducted to determine the relationship between mental workload and coping strategies in nursing students at Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences in the year 2019.

In this descriptive-analytic cross-sectional study, 160 students were randomly selected from three nursing and midwifery faculties in Sari, Behshahr, and Amol. Data were collected using the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) mental workload questionnaire and the Lazarus and Folkman emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies questionnaire. The data were then analyzed using SPSS version 20.

A total of 88 females (55%) and 72 males (45%) with a mean age of 22.52±1.98 years participated in the study. Fifty-two (32.5%) used a problem-oriented strategy, and 96(60%) used an emotion-oriented strategy. The mental workload mean score was 72.80±14.55 and a statistically significant relationship was found between mental workload with age and physical demand subscale (P=0.032 and p=0.028, respectively). No statistically significant difference was observed between the mental workload and coping strategy in both genders (P=0.171 and P=0.397, respectively). Moreover, no significant association was found between the mental workload and the overall coping strategy score (P=0.066).

Nursing students had high scores for mental workload, which can negatively impact the quality of care provided by them. Additionally, the most frequently used coping strategy among these students was emotion-focused coping. The use of problem-focused coping strategies reduces emotional distress, decreases mental workload, and enhances individuals' efficiency. Considering the obtained results, there is a need to develop and provide appropriate solutions in the field of education, focusing on problem- focused coping strategies rather than emotion-focused strategies, to increase the efficiency of students.