Cross-sectional Polish survey finds coping differences between Gen Z and older nurses

Generation Z nurses reported different coping strategies from their older colleagues in a cross-sectional survey of 760 professionally active nurses at University Hospital in Krakow, Poland. Several differences remained after adjustment for measured sociodemographic and occupational characteristics, while adjusted analysis also found slightly higher general self-efficacy scores among Generation Z participants. The researchers cautioned that the findings cannot establish that generation itself caused the differences or that they represent inherent generational traits.

The survey was conducted from April 15 to October 15, 2025, and achieved a response rate of 63.1%. It excluded nurses employed in intensive care units, operating rooms and emergency departments. Generation Z represented 50.7% of participants; 90.0% were women, and 58.8% worked in medical, or non-surgical, wards.

The primary comparison grouped Generation Z separately from nurses belonging to Generation Y and Generation X/Baby Boomers. Participants completed a study-specific sociodemographic and occupational questionnaire, the Mini-COPE inventory and the General Self-Efficacy Scale. Across the full sample, active coping had the highest mean Mini-COPE score at 2.13, followed by planning at 2.09, while substance use had the lowest score at 0.31.

The mean general self-efficacy score was 29.14, with a standard deviation of 4.66. The primary multivariable analysis accounted for professional experience, weekly working hours, additional employment, shift-work status, the number of patients hospitalized per shift, the number of patients per nurse and the type of workplace. In this model, the combined older group had general self-efficacy scores 1.38 points lower than Generation Z, with a 95% confidence interval of −2.47 to −0.29 and a reported q value of 0.0250.

Separate sensitivity analyses comparing Generation Z with Generation Y and with Generation X/Baby Boomers showed similar differences. The adjusted self-efficacy result differed from the initial unadjusted comparison. The groups also differed in several occupational characteristics: 55.7% of the older group reported additional employment, compared with 18.4% of Generation Z participants, and the older group worked an average of 49.48 hours per week versus 40.26 hours for Generation Z.

The abstract reports that Generation Z nurses differed from the older group in the coping strategies they used and that several differences remained significant after adjustment for the measured sociodemographic and occupational factors. That suggests the observed differences were not fully explained by the variables included in the analysis. However, the supplied findings do not give every generation-specific Mini-COPE estimate, so the size and direction of individual strategy comparisons cannot be specified from the reported results.

Higher general self-efficacy was associated with several coping strategies in the overall sample, but this association does not establish that self-efficacy caused any particular response to stress or that one coping strategy produced a better clinical outcome. The investigators did not test an intervention, and the survey does not demonstrate reduced burnout, improved quality of care or greater team stability. Nor can the cross-sectional design determine whether coping patterns and self-efficacy changed over time or separate generation from age, historical period, career stage and workload.

The authors identified mentoring, workload monitoring, support for recovery and protection of work–life balance as potential management strategies for nursing workforces. They emphasized that the effectiveness of these approaches requires evaluation in prospective studies. As a survey conducted at one Polish hospital and excluding three high-intensity clinical areas, the research offers a limited but detailed snapshot of professional experience among 760 nurses; its adjusted findings identify patterns that merit further study rather than proof of an inherent generational difference.

Subject of Research: Generational differences in coping strategies and self-efficacy among hospital nurses

Article Title: Does generation Z cope with stress differently? Self-efficacy, coping strategies, and implications for nursing workforce management: a cross-sectional survey study

Article References: Paplaczyk-Serednicka, M., Staszkiewicz, M., Wierzbiak, P., Musz, E., Orzeł-Nowak, A., Kuźmicz, I., Repka, I., Pluta, J., & Ścisło, L. (2026). Does generation Z cope with stress differently? Self-efficacy, coping strategies, and implications for nursing workforce management: a cross-sectional survey study. BMC Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-026-05567-y

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12912-026-05567-y

Keywords: Generation Z, nursing, occupational stress, self-efficacy, coping strategies, workload, cross-sectional survey, hospital workforce, Does, generation, cope, stress