Exploring Emotional Contagion, Perceived Stress, and Coping among Nurses

Abstract

This study aims to explore which factors among emotional contagion, perceived stress and coping strategies can best characterize nurses on the basis of their expertise. This was an observational study using the methods of t-test followed by discriminant analysis. A sample of 120 nurses from a multi-speciality hospital in India were assessed. Among the variables of emotional contagion, perceived stress and coping strategies, the “love” contagion, and emotion -focused coping strategies of “denial,” “blame” and “negative distraction” were found to best categorize the two groups of nurses. This study explores the nature of contagion and stress in nurses, but further studies are needed for a deeper understanding of specific physiological, and psychological aspects of stress and emotional contagion.