Stressors and Coping Strategies amongst Hemodialysis Patients in North of West Bank

Aim: the aim of the study was to assess the stressors and coping strategies used among hemodilysis patients (HD). To find out whether there is any relation between these stressors; coping strategies used andpatient characteristics in North of West Bank. Methodology: A quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive analytical study was carried out to achieve the aim of the study during the period between Januarys to March 2014. Data collection were took place at three governmental hospitals and one private hospital, on 120 HD patients of total 379, using the Hemodialysis Stress Scale (HSS) and Jalowiec Coping Scale(JCS). Result: The finding showed that the HD patients were mildly to moderately stressed according to HSS, the greatest perceived sources of stress appeared to be "physiological stressors" (mean=2.655) but the item with the highest percentage was "limitation on time and place for vacation" (84.2%) which belong to psychological stress subscale, and the item stress with the least percentage was "dependency on nurses and technicians"(45%). According to the ways of coping mechanisms, HD patients seemed to be resorting more to "optimistic coping" (mean=3.086) followed by "supportant coping" (mean=2.970) while "emotive coping" was the least coping strategy used (mean=2.125), the coping item with the highest percentage for using and helpfulness of using was "Prayed or put your trust in God" (94.8%) for using and (95.6%) for helpfulness of using. There were significant differences between the psychological stressors and duration of treatment and a significant difference between the stressors and coping strategy used, in addition to a significant difference between the coping strategies and helpfulness of coping. Conclusion: Maintaining the level of stressors in individuals with ESRD at minimum and using a proper coping mechanism are the key factors. Investment in this area of knowledge was justified for their contribution to improving the quality of life, minimizing potential complications of this disease, survival of these people and decrease cost. In addition future researches should be directed at detecting the predisposing factors that lead the HD patients to be variant in experiencing the intensity of stress and coping strategies used.