stress among nursing students in their training college

Sources and degrees of investigation Stress among nursing students in their training college is a global issue that has gotten little attention. Several research on stress among nursing students in affluent nations have focused mainly on the sources of stress and how to handle it. Workers and students in poor nations have shown a growing interest in stress studies. Increasing research in the nursing profession is owing to the fact that they work in stressful conditions (Kyreaa, 2014). Stress is an unavoidable aspect of life, and it is the price we pay for the effort to survive. This study will examine the sources and levels of stress among nursing students in three training colleges.

Literature Review

Stress affects everyone. Everything we do, whether good or bad, can result in stress production and can in one way or the other present us with a challenge. Anything that makes an individual to adjust, change or adapt is stress (Watson, Deary, Thompson, & Li, 2008).

Various researchers in their studies have documented negative effects of stress. It is believed to be a major contributor to cancer, coronary disease, accidental injuries, lung problems and suicide. Stress is reported to be common among people who work under pressure and those who are busy like nursing students mandated with meeting deadlines and maintaining standards. College students undertaking nursing programs get stressed due to the transitional nature of the nursing course they undertake and the general life they go through in the college (Atindanbila, Abasimi & Anim, 2012).

Review of psychological literature on studies conducted by Robotham (2008) indicates a number of stressors commonly experienced among students. They have been classified as academic or learning related stressors, examination related, stressors that are related to financial issues and college transition stressors. Some of the students get stressed because they find it difficult to effectively transit from home and adapt into the stressful academic setup. Some of them become financially challenged while others find it generally difficult to cope with the learning demands in class. This study comprehensively analyzed the major causative factors for stress that need to be understood.

Study conducted by Seyedfatemi, Tafreshi & Hagani (2014) on stress among nursing college students at the Iran faculty of nursing and midwifery identified interpersonal stressors such as finding new friends as another major cause of stress in nursing students. In this study, environmental stressors like working with unfamiliar people are most common causes of stress among these students. This study also identified that student in their first year experience greater levels of stress compared to the students in the other years.

Methodology, Data Collection and Analysis

Qualitative research method will be used in this study. A stratified random sampling technique will be used to select a total of 273 students from three training colleges. Questionnaires will be administered in class and collected back for analysis of the results. A cross-sectional survey method will be used to gather data since it is the most appropriate technique in assessing stress that students go through. The collected data will be analyzed using SPSS version 17.

Research Questions:

How often do you get stressed out?

Does stress affect you physically, emotionally or both?

Describe one situation when a particular subject in nursing stressed you?

How do you release stress?

How would you change your study habits to make them less stressing?

Ethics Approval

Permission to collect data will be obtained from the heads of the colleges to give us an official access to the students who will thereafter fill the questionnaires. Ethical approval is also essential as it ensures official conduct.

Research Schedule

The questions will take approximately 20 minutes for every sample population identified. It is anticipated to last not more than two months during data collection and submission of the report. Simple funding will be required to help with the printing of questionnaire, transportation costs and other keep up fees.

References

Atindanbila, S., Abasimi, E., & Anim, M.T. (2012) A study of work related depression, anxiety and stress of nurses at Pantang Hospital in Ghana. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 2, (9), 1-8.

Kyreaa, D.A. (2014) Causes of stress among nurses in the Greater Accra Region. International Journal of Research in Social Sciences, 3, (8), 74-81.

Robotham, D. (2008) Stress among higher education students: Towards a research agenda. Higher Education, 56,(6),735-746.

Seyedfatemi, N., Tafreshi, M. & Hagani, H. (2014) Experienced stressors and coping strategies among Iranian nursing students. BMC Nursing, 6, 11.

Watson, R., Deary, I., Thompson, D., & Li, G. (2008) A study of stress and burnout in nursing students in Hong Kong: A questionnaire survey. International Journal of Nursing Studies,45,(10),1534-1542.