EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES AND COPING STRATEGIES OF NURSING AND MIDWIFERY PRACTITIONERS IN PAKISTAN

Background: Emotional regulation forms an integral part of healthcare delivery. In the performance of the core duties of nursing and midwifery, health professionals are expected to enhance occupationally/organizationally required emotions. The purpose of this study is to explore.The meaning nurses and midwives give to emotional labor as well as the coping resources employed by these professionals in order to manage the emotional demands of their profession. Method: A qualitative study was conducted using a semi-structured interview guide with fifteen (15) purposively selected focal persons from a pool of 45 random nurses and midwives grouped in 15 teams having 3 members each. Interviews were recorded and simultaneously translated and transcribed. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: Our findings showed that participants conceptualized emotional labor as display of rules. Sadness, abuse and bullying, poor incentivisation, emotional exhaustion and emotional mix bag were reported by the participants as emotional demands and deficits. Nurses and midwives coped with emotional labor through the use of five (5) main resources: psychological capital, routinisation of emotions, religious resources, social support and job security. Conclusion: Nursing and midwifery professional duties are accompanied with emotional regulations which tend to have consequential effects on a myriad of work-related issues. Clinical healthcare training needs to intensify and equip professionals with the skills of regulating and managing their emotions since managing emotional demands are central to effective healthcare delivery.

Keywords:  Emotional labor, Emotional demands, coping strategies, nurses and midwives, defense