Cross-cultural comparison of workplace stressors, ways of coping and demographic characteristics as predictors of physical and mental health among hospital nurses in Japan, Thailand, South Korea and the USA (Hawaii)

Abstract

In an attempt to cross-culturally compare factors that may contribute to the nursing shortage within countries that have produced a limited number of research findings on role stress in nurses, this research examined work stressors, ways of coping and demographic characteristics as predictors of physical and mental health among hospital nurses from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the USA (Hawaii). Subjects (n=1554 hospital-based nurses) were administered four self-report questionnaires: Demographic Questionnaire, “Nursing Stress Scale”, “Ways of Coping Questionnaire” and “SF-36 Health Survey”. Findings suggested that nurses indicated similar workplace stressors, ways of coping, and levels of physical and mental health. While subjects, across countries, demonstrated a variety of predictors of physical and mental health, several predictors were found to be the same. Cross-culturally the role of nurses may vary; however, certain factors are predictive of the status of hospital nurses’ physical health and mental health.

Introduction

The Global Advisory Group of the World Health Organization has acknowledged that a worldwide shortage of nurses exists (Booth, 2002; Heitlinger, 2003). This shortage has led to global competition for hiring nurses, as well as a migration of nurses from developing countries to developed countries. The nursing workforce movement only intensifies and exacerbates the nursing shortage in developing countries already facing a low nurse to patient ratio (International Nursing Foundation of Japan, 2000).

In an attempt to understand the problems surrounding the occurrence of the global nursing shortage, research has focused on various aspects of the work environment and nurses’ satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction with their professional role. Most of these studies have been conducted in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (USA), all of which are considered to be western culture countries (Lambert and Lambert, 2002). Few studies, however, have addressed cross-cultural aspects of role stress among nurses (Aiken et al., 2002), with even fewer studies examining role stress among nurses from Asian culture countries, such as Japan, South Korea and Thailand. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare cross-culturally, in hospital-based nurses, workplace stressors, ways of coping and demographic characteristics as predictors of physical and mental health among nurses from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the USA (Hawaii). While the USA is a country with a predominately western culture, the State of Hawaii, unlike the rest of the country, largely due to its geographic isolation from the mainland, has a strong and thriving Asian culture. Of the 1.2 million Hawaii residents, approximately 42% are of Asian descent, 17% reported as Japanese and 2% reported as Korean (US Census Bureau, 2000).