Occupational stress among nursing technicians and assistants: coping focused on the problem.

Objective: To analyze the association between strategies used to cope with occupational stress that are focused on the problem wand the personal characteristics of nursing technicians and assistants.

Methodology: This quantitative and correlational study was conducted in a large teaching hospital in the São Paulo State, Brazil, in 2013. A randomized sample with 310 participants (198 nursing assistants and 112 nursing technicians) comprised the study population. Data were collected using a sociodemographic characteristics questionnaire and Scale of Ways of Coping with Problems. Data were submitted to univariate analysis, and variables with statistical significance (p<0.20) were submitted posteriorly in a multiple regression model.

Results: Most employees were women (76.1%) older than 40 years (67.7%), had nine to 11 years of formal education (73.5%), had a partner (58.7%), were Catholic (53.2%), and had children (74.5%). The final multiple regression model consisted of variable years of formal education and number of children.

Conclusion: In this study, formal education and number of children were more strongly associated with a greater use of coping strategies focused on the problem. Such a strategy is related to minimal vulnerability to stress related to the working environment.