Thesis

Swedish versions of the questionnaires, they were given to a Swedish English teacher for her
to check the accuracy of the translation. The feedback from her was positive as well and thus
the questionnaires were decided to be ready for distribution among the Swedish emergency
nurses.
3.2.1. Demographic variables
The questionnaires distributed among the emergency nurses inquired about some
demographical background about the nurses. More specifically it asked about the nurse’s age,
marital status, how many children they have (if they have), the highest level of education, how
many years worked as a nurse, years worked at her current workplace, and hours worked on
average per week (see APPENDIX B, page 1).
3.2.2. The Stress scale for Oncology nurses
The Stress scale for Oncology nurses (Meszaros, 2005) is looking at different characteristics
of nurses’ workplace. The nurses have to estimate to what degree their work at the hospital is
stressful for them. The questionnaire is made up of 36 items, which have to be evaluated on a
5 point scale ranging from 1 (not at all stressful) to 5 (very stressful). The reliability of the
whole scale has been checked and a value of .93 has been attained. The reliability of the nine
subscales has also been checked and they have been shown to attain the following reliability
scores: Death and dying, .65; Conflicts with the doctors, .78; Problems with the colleagues,
.70; Relationship with the patients, .61; Work and private life, .74; Relationship with the
patient’s relatives, .58; Being unprepared and feeling inexperienced, .70; Workload, .77; and
Stress related to tasks, .71 (see APPENDIX B, page 1-2).
3.2.3. The Satisfaction with Life scale
The Satisfaction with Life scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985; Pavot & Diener,
1993) was used in this study to look at to what degree the Hungarian and the Swedish nurses
were satisfied with their lives in general. The Satisfaction with Life Scale was developed to