The study was done to evaluate the effects a Stress Management Program (SMP) on stress, problem solving skills, and quality of life for hospitalized patients with Schizophrenia.

A mixed method design was used: a combination of a repeated-measure design with a non-equivalent control group and qualitative data collection. The participants were 40 patients with schizophrenia admitted in three psychiatric hospitals. The experimental group (n=20) received the SMP twice a week for a total of 8 weeks.

Study results revealed that the SMP was effective for stress (F=321.02, p<.001), problem solving ability (F=246.28, p<.001), and quality of life (F=63.35,p<.001) for hospitalized persons with schizophrenia.

The results suggest that a SMP can be an effective strategy to reduce patients' hospitalization stress, and improve problem solving skills and quality of life. Therefore, it is recommended that mental health nurses use this stress management program in clinical practice to assist adaptation to hospitalization for persons with schizophrenia.

This study was done to develop a measurement for stress experienced by patients with schizophrenia during hospitalization.

The preliminary tool was developed through in-depth interviews and a validity verification test of content. For data collection, 15 inpatients with schizophrenia were selected as participants for in-depth interviews and 195 patients admitted to one of eight psychiatric hospitals in four provinces were recruited as participants to test reliability and validity of the preliminary tool.

The questionnaire was developed as a four-point Likert-type scale in a self-report form with 28 items. Factor analysis showed 28 items in six factors. Factors were named 'Unjust human rights infringement', 'Futureless life', 'Alienation from other family members', 'Infringement of basic needs', 'Infringement of personal preference' and 'Inconvenience of shared living'. The six factors explained 63.5% of the total variance. Cronbach's alpha for the total items was .93 and for the factors ranged from .65 to .87.

A tool to measure stress in patients hospitalized with schizophrenic was developed based on identified hospitalization stress experiences. Study results indicate that this tool can be used to evaluate hospitalization stress in these patients and will contribute to establishing nursing interventions for relief of hospitalization stress.