Meanings of state hospital nursing II: Coping and making meaning

The purpose of this study was to describe the meaning of work for nurses employed in two state psychiatric hospitals. A companion article, “Meanings of State Hospital Nursing I: Facing Challenges”, (Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 13(1), 48–54), describes the study methods and the findings regarding the challenges in clinical decision making, personal control, and maintaining professional standards that nurses face in state hospital nursing. This article focuses on the ways that nurses meet the challenges, cope, and make meaning. These methods include taking pride in being able to cope with the challenges, maintaining watchfulness, narrowing of focus, valuing the ideal when it does occur, and constructing personal meanings. The article concludes with suggestions for supporting and enhancing the ways in which nurses cope and make meaning in their daily work in state hospitals.