Introduction. The work of paediatric nurses involves great responsibility for health and life of the youngest patients while, at the same time, it is a source of various burdens which result in stress and related problems affecting all areas of life. Aim. The objective of the work was to recognise difficult situations and learning ways of coping with them in the work of paediatric nurses. Material and methods. The study included 101 nurses working at the children’s wards in hospitals in Tarnów, Dąbrowa Tarnowska, Brzesko and Dębica. The study was carried out by means of a diagnostic poll method and a survey technique. The tools were: the author’s own survey questionnaire, the PSS10 scale and the Mini COPE inventory. Verification of differences between variables was made with the use of tests. The significance level of p < 0.5 was assumed. The calculations were made with the use of IBM SPSS Statistics 20 software. Results. Quite often the nurses would run up against difficulties at work – 64.4%, including low pay (64.4%), overload with duties in relation to a small number of nursing personnel (58.4%) and aggression, child’s, parent’s/custodian’s demands as well as performing several activities at the same time (57.4%). A high stress level was felt by 31.7% of the surveyed. Strategies based on active coping, planning, seeking emotional and instrumental support were most frequently applied by nurses. Conclusions. Nurses often face difficult situations at work and handle them actively.

Key words: nurses, paediatrics, stress, work.