Predictors of school and nursing service managers' coping ability

• Published in: Education (Chula Vista) Vol. 124; no. 2; pp. 347 - 363
• Main Authors: Niehaus, L, Myburgh, CPH, Poggenpoel, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Project Innovation (Alabama) 22-12-2003; Project Innovation Austin LLC
• ISSN: 0013-1172

From findings obtained in a previous research project on school and nursing service managers' ability to hold their own, it was found that there are significant differences between these groups of managers with respect to their coping ability amidst daily demands. The coping ability of individuals can be influenced by many contributing factors, including their personal beliefs and the coping strategies that they use. Identifying predictors of school and nursing service managers' coping ability was therefore considered important in meeting contemporary educational and health care challenges. Responding to this need, the aim of this research project was to explore these managers' coping ability amidst daily demands by addressing the following issue: "To what extent is it possible to predict school and nursing service managers' coping ability in terms of their personal beliefs and the coping strategies that they use?" An empirical investigation was undertaken with reference to a conceptual framework. Consecutive factor analytical procedures, item analyses, and combinations of multivariate stepwise regression analyses were conducted on the data. The results of the analyses indicated, inter alia, that the personal beliefs of the managers seem to contribute the most in predicting their perceptions of their coping ability amidst daily demands.