Stress and ways of coping among first year nursing students: A Turkish perspective

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this descriptive study was to assess stress and ways of coping among first year nursing students.Methods: The sample consisted of 90 nursing students from baccalaureate degree programs at a university in Turkey. The research tool consisted of demographic questions, the Pagana Clinical StressQuestionnaire  (CSQ) and the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ). The data collection form was performed at the end of the first clinical practice day and the re-test was performed at the end of the last clinical practice day.Results:  The average age of the population was 19.72±1.32, 78.9% of the students were female. In the research, average point of the students’ CSQ and WCQ were calculated as 50.50±9.36 and 71.06±13.64 before the clinical practice, 52.07±9.87 and 77.63±17.03  after the clinical practice respectivelyand it was found that nursing students had significantly higher stress in their clinical practices.Conclusions: Nursing students experience varying degrees of stress across clinical practices and they consistently report that their clinical experiences are stressful.