Holiday Tours as a Stress Management Option in Male versus Female Nurses - Research Proposal Example

? A Comparative Analysis of Holiday Tours as a Stress Management Option in Male versus Female Nurses This project will study the number of male and female nurses in a local hospital that go on holiday tours during annual vacations as a stress reduction method. Pegged on the hypothesis states that the male nurses are more likely to go on holiday tours to reduce stress levels associated with their nursing profession unlike their female counterparts. This study targets male and female nurses that have worked for at least 4 years in the nursing profession. Nonetheless, it shall narrow down to the male nurses. Introduction The nursing profession is always very stressful. It entails long working days that always extend long into the night. In most cases, the nurses work the whole night and attend to many patients. The number of male and female nurses needs to go on holiday tours during annual vacations as a stress reduction method. Male nurses are more likely to go on holiday tours to reduce stress levels associated with their nursing profession. Data Collection Methodology To clearly establish how male and the female nurse student prefer to spend their holidays, I questionnaires designed to for data collection. My study targeted the Imperial nursing school and North Rift Nursing School to ensure randomness in data collection. I conducted the research during the exam period, in April 2013, to ensure maximum participation of the nursing students. This is the most suitable time because students were planning for their long holidays after the exams and most probable, and most probably, they had already planned on how to spend their holiday. I choose these institutions since they are well established with students from first year to fourth year (Olsen, 2012). The study employed probability sampling due to the nature of the population. The data were collected through interviews through which the targeted students give fast hand information. To get in contact with the students, the management of these nursing schools helped me to inform the targeted students about the research. Moreover, they helped me arrange for the interview with the targeted eight 4th year students. The following data sample was captured from the two schools of nursing. Students Sex Institution of learning A way of spending their holiday Why the choice of spending the holiday Alex Male North Rift Nursing Running a family business Make addition income Dolphin Female Imperial nursing Running a family business Help parents Edwin Male Imperial nursing Vacation Tours Release stress Gladys Female North Rift Nursing Undertaking short courses Be more marketable in the job market James Male Imperial nursing Vacation Tours Release stress John Male Imperial nursing Vacation Tours Pass time Joseph Male North Rift Nursing Abuse of drugs with friends Have fun Josephine Female Imperial nursing Reading and listening to music Have fun Lillian Female North Rift Nursing Abuse of drugs with friends Have fun Linnet Female North Rift Nursing Short courses To progress in life Lucy Female Imperial nursing Staying at home with parents Quality time Mary Female North Rift Nursing Taking care of younger sibling Help parents Michael Male Imperial nursing Vacation travel Have fun Millicent Female Imperial nursing Vacation Tours Release stress Peter Male North Rift Nursing Vacation Tours Release stress Thomas Male North Rift Nursing Part-time working Generate income Data Analysis Data analysis was to determine the trends that most students were used to during the holiday in the two institutions. The analysis also shows the distribution of different student in the activities they engage in during the holiday. Frequency of males taking a vacation tour Frequency of Females taking a vacation tour The percentage of the total population of females preferring tours The percentage of the total population of males preferring tours 4 out of 8 1 out of 8 12.5% 50% Table 2: comparison of frequencies if boys and girls Tasks to undertake during the holiday Number of students Commutative frequencies Holiday tours 6 6 Short courses 2 8 Running family business 2 10 Part time jobs 1 11 Abusing drugs 2 13 Taking care of siblings 2 15 Reading and listening to music 1 16 Table 3: Tasks to be undertaken by the students during their holiday Mode: 2 Mean: 0.5 Median: 2 Standard Deviation: 0.224 Figure 1: chart-showing tasks of different students The total student out of the 16 who wanted to undertake a vacation tours were 6 and these represent 37.5% of the total data. The percentage of male students who were going for a vacation tour was 5 out of the 16 students. This represents 31.25% of the total students and 75% of the total male students in the two institutions. The imperial nursing school has the majority of students who would like to go for the holiday tours with four students. From the data, variable analysis including mean and standard deviation, first quartile, median, third quartile, and range were obtained. Percentage of observations that fall within 1, 2, and 3 of the standard deviations of the mean were also obtained. In addition, relative frequency table, histogram, and skewness discussion are determined (Govaert, 2011). All these analyses were obtained using SPSS software for data analysis. Inferential Analysis The hypothesis test that male nurses are more likely to go on holiday tours to reduce stress levels associated with their nursing profession turned to be highly positive. The confidence level for this hypothesis is 95 percentages. The study indicated that 75% of the male nurses go for holiday tours during their vacation period. On the other hand, the female nurses that go for holiday tours is 6.25% Conclusions The study indicates that male nurses are more likely to go on holiday tours to reduce stress levels associated with their nursing profession as compared to their female counterparts. During the study, several problems were experienced specially the unwillingness of some participants to offer the required information. Most of the nurses were on internship. They had a work experience of less than four years. Travelling costs of the test site were also huge challenges due to their constant fluctuation. In future studies should deduce ways of curbing these challenges. Data collection methods need to be computerized to help improve accuracy. The scope of the study should also be widened to include more nurses for proper data analysis towards drawing an effective conclusion. References Govaert, G. (2011). Data Analysis. London: John Willy & Sons Inc. Olsen, W. (2012). Data Collection: Key Debates and Methods in Social Research. London: SAGE Publications Inc. Read More