Coping Strategies of Immigrant Filipino Hospital Nurses in Finland
Segercrantz, Vannesa; Alinea, Cecille (2020)
Segercrantz, Vannesa
Alinea, Cecille
2020
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020111622944
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020111622944
Tiivistelmä
The purpose of our thesis is to gather information and describe Immigrant Filipino Hospital Nurses’ stress and identify coping strategies they use to mitigate the stress. The aim of this study is to learn about the different coping strategies of IFNs. In this thesis, the authors focus on Filipino nurses who are currently working in the hospital. It was clear that Finland has become a new destination country for Filipino immigrant nurses in the last decade.
While Finland has recently accepted many immigrant nurses, Filipino nurses have been among the bulk of imports. The authors have come to recognize that a lot of studies have been done about coping strategies but not a single study using the qualitative approach for Filipino immigrant nurses. This is the key reason the authors chose to concentrate on immigrant nurses from the Philippines.
The thesis method that was used is a qualitative descriptive research. Authors used a semi-structured or focused interview. The questions are contained in an interview guide. The interview guide, however, ensures that the researcher collects similar types of data from all informants. In this way, the interviewer can save time, and the dross rate is lower than in unstructured interviews.
The original plan of the authors was to obtain at least 5-10 interviews, but 6 IFNs currently working at a hospital in Finland participated in the study. The interview was conducted on a one-on-one basis through personal contact or through the Facebook social media app, where the interview was documented, and all interviews were in English only. The interview was conducted once, and a follow-up interview will not be conducted due to time constraints. Participants were chosen on the basis of convenience sampling. Using this sampling process, it was simpler for authors to look for Filipino immigrant nurses currently working in hospitals in Finland. After interviewing the IFNs, the authors will then analyze their responses to the challenges at work and pool the data into themes and sub-themes.
These findings in our qualitative study have shown that nursing is one of the most demanding occupations and not an easy job. It is even more challenging to work in another country where new language needs to be learned. However, it is also revealed that aside from the language, the job content itself and demand were the most difficult aspects of becoming a nurse. Rest and relaxation were among the easiest strategies used to alleviate work, but the importance of interpersonal relationships, such as frequent interaction with colleagues, friends and family, is equivalent to the importance of coping. Another coping strategy used by the participants was the role-concept, which demonstrated that the recognition of the role of nurse motivates them to perform better.
Keywords: immigrant nurses, coping strategies, stress, hospital
While Finland has recently accepted many immigrant nurses, Filipino nurses have been among the bulk of imports. The authors have come to recognize that a lot of studies have been done about coping strategies but not a single study using the qualitative approach for Filipino immigrant nurses. This is the key reason the authors chose to concentrate on immigrant nurses from the Philippines.
The thesis method that was used is a qualitative descriptive research. Authors used a semi-structured or focused interview. The questions are contained in an interview guide. The interview guide, however, ensures that the researcher collects similar types of data from all informants. In this way, the interviewer can save time, and the dross rate is lower than in unstructured interviews.
The original plan of the authors was to obtain at least 5-10 interviews, but 6 IFNs currently working at a hospital in Finland participated in the study. The interview was conducted on a one-on-one basis through personal contact or through the Facebook social media app, where the interview was documented, and all interviews were in English only. The interview was conducted once, and a follow-up interview will not be conducted due to time constraints. Participants were chosen on the basis of convenience sampling. Using this sampling process, it was simpler for authors to look for Filipino immigrant nurses currently working in hospitals in Finland. After interviewing the IFNs, the authors will then analyze their responses to the challenges at work and pool the data into themes and sub-themes.
These findings in our qualitative study have shown that nursing is one of the most demanding occupations and not an easy job. It is even more challenging to work in another country where new language needs to be learned. However, it is also revealed that aside from the language, the job content itself and demand were the most difficult aspects of becoming a nurse. Rest and relaxation were among the easiest strategies used to alleviate work, but the importance of interpersonal relationships, such as frequent interaction with colleagues, friends and family, is equivalent to the importance of coping. Another coping strategy used by the participants was the role-concept, which demonstrated that the recognition of the role of nurse motivates them to perform better.
Keywords: immigrant nurses, coping strategies, stress, hospital