This study is aimed at determining stress and the degree of stress coping among nurse as well as such general characteristics as daily life styles, duty, and socio-demographic characteristics of that group. 525 nurses, from four university hospitals in Daejeon city underwent a self-administered questionnaire during the 3-week period from July. 21 to August. 9, 2003. The questions focused on general characteristics including： socio-demographic and duty characteristics, daily life styles, and stress and methods of coping with stress. Based on the distribution of degree of stresses, 66.1% of the study subjects were at the potential risk of stress, with the high risk group constituting 30.3% and the normal group 3.6%. The stress and the degree of stress coping were shown to be affected by socio-demographic and job-related characteristics as well as daily life styles. The group at higher risk of stress was shown to have a lower degree of coping with stress, implying that a lower degree of coping with stress would in turn heighten the occurrence of stress. Therefore, it is required to develop an effective strategy that includes stress-reduction programs available in the field and prompting further build-up of comprehensive stress-management programs.