Next, the theme of coping strategies, such as seeking advice from superiors and coworkers and developing
individual coping strategies, supported the results from previous studies. The increasing span of control is
reported to cause effects such as lack of mentoring, increased stress, and decreased job satisfaction [23]. In this
study, all participants mentioned the efficacy and importance of coping strategies, and when nurse managers did
not have much experience, seeking advice from senior nurses and/or superiors and sharing their concerns with
other nurse managers led to relaxation. In addition, in the past, nurse managers managed and monitored their
wards on their own, and therefore, they had to remain at the hospital and never take a day off. However, they
have recently become aware of the need to take time off in order to reduce their stress and expand their chief
nurses’ training.