Dealing with stress : Patterns of self-comfort among healthcare students

• Stress among healthcare students is a growing problem. As self-comfort is assumed to be a way of coping with stressful emotions, the aim of this study was to describe the patterns of self-comforting actions that healthcare students usually use in distress. One hundred and sixty-eight healthcare students volunteered to write down accounts of what they do when they comfort themselves. Their accounts were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The findings reveal two themes: Ingressing and Transcending. Ingressing comprises the sub-themes Unloading, Distracting, Nurturing oneself, Withdrawing and Reassuring. Transcending comprises the sub-themes Opening up and Finding new perspectives. These findings are in line with some stress-reducing strategies described in the literature on stress management. Winnicott’s theory about the phenomenon of transition is used to interpret the findings. In the light of Winnicott’s theory, self-comforting measures can be comprehended as the ability to transfer early childhood experiences of being nurtured and comforted into well-adapted strategies to effect relaxation and gain strength.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Comfort

Content analysis

Healthcare students

Stress

Caring sciences

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)