Problem Focused Coping to Improve Nursing Student Professional Quality of Life

Clinical stressors can influence student’s professional quality of life. Problem-focused coping strategy is one type of coping strategy that can affect the quality of professional life. The research analyzes the relationship between problem-focused coping strategies and nursing students' professional quality of life. This study used a correlational analytic design with a cross-sectional approach. 132 professional nursing students were recruited using the technique of proportionate stratified random sampling. Data were collected using the Professional Quality of Life Scale 5th version and Questionnaire Problem-Focused Coping and analyzed by Spearman Correlation Test with a significance level of 0.05. The research results showed that the respondents exhibit low problem-focused coping strategies (50.8%) and a high professional quality of life (50.8%). Both variables show a weak positive unidirectional correlation (p-value=0.001; r = 0.281). The better the use of problem-focused coping, the better the quality of professional life. Problem-focused coping strategies positively correlate with improved compassion satisfaction as a positive aspect of professional quality of life. The weak relationship between both variables is assumed because of the complex clinical environment, and problem-focused coping can be only a moderating factor. Educators and nurses need to optimize clinical learning conditions and monitor burnout and stress in clinical practice. Thus, training and intensifying the problem-focused coping strategy is recommended to improve students' professional lives.