Stress levels of nursing students: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Context: Nursing students experience psychosocial stress in their workplace. Available statistics are at variance, and hence, the need to know the overall prevalence of psychosocial stress among nursing students. Aims: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of psychosocial stress among nursing students through meta-analysis. Materials and methods: PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, CNKI, and China Biomedical Literature Service System were searched for articles. Search terms include "psychosocial stress,""nursing students."Articles were included if they used validated psychosocial stress assessment instruments. Of the 15 articles with data on stress prevalence, 8 met all inclusion criteria. Each article was independently reviewed by the authors and relevant data were abstracted. Statistical analysis was done using Revman 4.1. Results: Overall, the average score for stress among nursing students was 3.70 (95% confidence interval [CI]: [3.33, 4.06]) based on the analyzed 15 articles with a sample size of 9202. Conclusion: This study showed that the stress level of intern nursing students was mainly moderate.