Mental illness and coping strategies of nurses at a university hospital

Abstract Objective: to identify the presence of mental illness and the coping strategies nurses use at a university hospital in Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil. Method: a quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive study between June 2022 and January 2023. The following were used: Sociodemographic and health aspects questionnaire, Symptom Assessment Scale-40-R, and Folkman and Lazarus Coping Strategies Inventory. Univariate descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were analyzed. Results: 97 people were interviewed who reported that they had already felt depressed for two weeks or more (34%), had been diagnosed with a mental disorder (35.1%), and were undergoing psychological (8.2%) and psychiatric (7.2%) counseling. They showed more significant impairment in the obsessiveness-compulsiveness dimension and made greater use of the coping strategy Positive Reappraisal. Conclusion: the study helps to guide nursing managers in implementing programs that encourage coping strategies aimed at improving the mental health of these professionals.