A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF STRESS MANAGEMENT IN A GROUP OF PEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY NURSES

Pediatric oncology nursing is associated with highly stressful and emo tional situations. This article describes and discusses major sources of occupational stress among a group of nurses participating in a stre ss management group. The stress sources for these nurses were preoccup ation with death and dying, the professional image of the oncology, nu rse, the nurse as fighter in the war against disease and death, the nu rses' perceived isolation from the medical staff the nurses' perceived inferior professional status compared with that of physicians, emotio nal overinvolvement with patients and families, suppression of anger, and difficulties in balancing work and home demands, The following fac tors are suggested as major contributors to the nurses' stress and bur nout: increased tendency for irrational-dysfunctional thinking styles (mainly ''demandingness'' and ''awfulizing''), diffuse boundary ies be tween nurses and patients, lore professional self-efficacy, and wide p revalence of military metaphors.