Stress Management Methods, And Their Effectiveness Amongst Nursing Students

Abstract

Nursing science articles have indicated that clinical practice and academic schoolwork triggers stress amongst nursing students. The causes of stress and stress management methods vary and are not educated or publicly known to nursing students. The amount of data on this subject is limited, that is why a literature review to expand the knowledge is needed to make it more accessible. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to describe knowledge on causes of stress and stress management methods of nursing students. The aim of the thesis is to produce knowledge for nursing students on stress management methods, causes of stress and how nursing students apply the knowledge for selfcare.

The data was obtained from reliable databases such as CINAHL, Medline and PubMed. The data generated in total was 798 articles which were obtained through keyword searches on the databases. Based on our inclusion and exclusion criteria thirteen articles were chosen as data for this thesis. An inductive content analysis was done by applying principles of qualitative research and a content analysis table was used to categorize the information gathered. A content analysis table was developed for both research questions which were ‘causes of stress for nursing students’ and ‘what methods are nursing students using to cope with stress’. Data was analyzed by organizing the original phrases with four steps: simplified, grouped, sub-categorized, and upper-categorized.

The results indicate that there are four upper categories which are the causes of stress amongst nursing students. These include: Sociodemographic factors, personal indications, geodemographic and socioeconomic factors. Sociodemographic factors which caused stress amongst nursing students were the age of the student, the marital status of the student, cultural differences and sex of the student. Personal indications which caused stress included perceived notions of clinical practice and organizational skills of students. Geodemographic stress factors included travel time between home, clinical practice and school. Socioeconomic factors included education level of the student, school/ work status, student family dynamics and economic factors.

The results also found that the most common methods in which nursing students coped with stress fell into three upper categories. These included use of social support, financial support, and self-care. Methods in which students cope with stress regarding social support included the use of their social circle, and financial support included wealth through socioeconomic status of the student's family and self-care included stress management methods and methods to help mental health of the students.

Findings of this thesis suggest that there is abundant information on the self-care methods of stress management amongst nursing students. This indicates that nursing students are motivated for self-care during their studies to cope with their stress. Further studies should investigate the use of social support networks to cope with stress and how the socioeconomic status of students and their families influence the stress levels of the student. Nursing students are able to gain key knowledge on the causes of stress from this thesis. By understanding the causes of stress nursing students can identify the stress triggers and obtain a deeper understanding. Doing this will allow students to develop effective stress management methods as an indication for self-care on an individualistic level