Relationship between Perceived Stress and Coping Strategies of Relatives of Patients Hospitilzed in Cardiac Care Unit

introduction: Hospitalizing in Intensive Care Units (ICU) is stressful for patients and their relatives. Basically, people in stress use coping strategies therefore determining the type and amount of it can be useful for nurses' decisions to help them. Method:  This descriptive-analytical study carried out in 2014-2015. Convenience sampling was used for the main members of the family of patients who admitted to ICU. The samples were estimated based on the results of a preliminary study of 462 people. The data included demographic characteristics, perceived stress and coping strategies which collected by Cohen questionnaire, Billings and Mouse questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics tests, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient by SPSS version 18 software. Results: The study indicated that mean and standard deviation of perceived stress were 44.80 ± 5.92 and emotion-focused and problem-oriented coping styles, respectively, 19.08 ± 3.02 and 32.35 ± 5.54, respectively. There was a significant correlation between perceived stress and coping styles (r = 0.125, p = 0.007). Most of the subjects used both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategy. Conclusion: This study showed that relatives of patients admitted to intensive care units had moderate stress and increased perceived stress using emotion-focused coping strategies. It is recommended that nurses develop education and supportive care plans to help these clients' health and well-being.