Nurses coping strategies - a literature review of the meeting with patients with cancer.

The purpose of this literature review was to gain insight into coping strategies nurses use in the meeting of patients with cancer. Inspired by Goodman’s methodology ten scientific articles were gathered in three databases PubMed, CINAHL and PsycINFO. Included articles were both quantitative and qualitative. These were reviewed and quality assessed individually by the authors before the results were compiled. Eight overall coping strategies were distinguished: planning, demarcation, confrontation, support, escape, positive reappraisal, ventilate feelings and acceptance. The most frequently used coping strategy was positive reappraisal. From the results it was found that emotion focused coping was more common among nurses in the meeting of patients with cancer than problem focused coping. More research, particularly qualitative, in coping strategies of nurses working with cancer patients is needed due to the research field being small and that it is of importance for the individual nurse, the nursing staff, the team and the organization itself.