The Effects Of Stress On Nursing Students ' Academic Performance And Health

In the late 1980’s a study was performed by Lois Haggerty. Haggerty is a masters prepared nurse who wanted to study the differences of response to patient situations in different types of nursing education programs. Her study prompted a push for more research on this issue and for the increase in baccalaureate prepared nurses. The study began with 44 ADN and 31 BSN students preparing to graduate. They were presented with four case studies. They watched two videos of patients expressing somatic distress and two videos of patients expressing non-somatic distress. They were prompted to fill out a questionnaire for each scenario stating what they would say first to each patient. Haggerty discovered that both the ADN

The new graduate nurses (NGN) are faced with various issues and challenges especially in their first year of nursing practice. The period of transition from a student to a graduate nurse is a demanding period that is filled with new experiences and there are several concerns and factors that can affect the transition process. The research into the issues has recommended some strategies that can be utilised to ease the transition process from being a student to a professional practicing nurse. Exhaustion, reality shock and time management are some of the factors and issues that the new graduate might encounter during their first year in their career.

Society defines stress as anything which forces us to change. Through technical terms stress is defined as “a negative emotional state occurring in response to events that are perceived as taking or exceeding a person’s resources or ability to cope.” To explaining stress researchers came up with the “Cognitive appraisal model”, this system works to tell us whether we believe we have enough resources to deal with the situation without becoming stressed. For instance as a now college student those who have had previous experience taking finales in high school can have less stress than those who have not taken it. This is because they have previous experience with taking the tests and learning how to study while those who have never taken one can become extremely stressed over the unknown of the test. Stress is one of the sub branches that is attached to the world of health psychology. Health psychology is a quickly growing branch that deals with the way the mind and body work together. Psychologists that work in the health field came up with the biopsychosocial model. This model explains the complex interaction with biological, psychological, and social factors.

Work related stress has an impact on the health and wellbeing of nurse’s. It is a response to work demands, and pressure that may not match the employee’s knowledge, skills or ability and challenge their ability to cope (World Health Organisation (WHO), 2017). Stress within the workforce is regarded

Issues such as staff shortage, increased workload, staff feeling threatened by the student nurses, and poor teaching skills can contribute to students not feeling supported (Burns and Paterson, 2005). Nursing students had identified that anxiety as their main concern in the research done by Masoumi and Sharif (2005). The unfamiliarity of tending for patients and worrying of making mistakes during the clinical attachment are the factors that students feel anxious. Mentor can diminish anxiety by utilizing simulation, where genuine case studies and scenarios are being simulated and roles and responsibilities of student nurse are being discussed (Burns and Paterson, 2005).Gradual encouragement in helping student nurse to gain control over their own learning may aid to construct their confidence which will reduce their

The world of nursing can be stressful yet fulfilling at the same time. After passing the licensure exam and securing a job, new nurses’ next journey is transitioning to practice. Mixed feelings and emotions are evident as they are about to enter a new phase in their careers and step out into the “real world”- Along these lines, new nurses will encounter colleagues who are helpful and who are not, as they transition to become competent nurses. The aim of this paper is to identify a stressful situation experienced by the author, provide examples of how this stressful situation affects nursing care, incorporate the use of Lazarus and Folkman’s stress theory, examine mindfulness as a psychosocial stress mediator, describe how mindfulness can help in the stressful situation mentioned, and consider how to incorporate this mediator in daily life.

The expectations for any nursing student, dedicated and compassionate, is not easily found. A hard worker is made through the experience of rigorous academic courses, balanced with character building

Becoming a nurse requires extensive schooling and training that for most students causes considerable amounts of stress to be placed on their success for the future. Nursing school places students in an environment that is rigorous and competitive which in turn results in high-stress levels experienced by these students. The stress inflicted on these students causes them to experience health problems along with deterring them from completing their studies. Additionally, the pressure and struggles these students are facing are being ignored by those placing them under these conditions, ignoring the fact that the educators of these students are responsible for ensuring the well-being of these students. Proven that nursing students experience more stress than the average college undergraduate, the stress inflicted on nursing students by their educational process results in students that are less likely to succeed and that are overall less healthy both physically and mentally.

For nurses, the workload and patient assignments are the most significant factors in their perception of their ability to provide quality care to their patients. Of course, this is directly related to nursing job satisfaction. Nursing is a career in which patient satisfaction and caregiver satisfaction go hand in hand. When the nurse is happy, he or she provides high quality care to the patient, which in turn makes the patient happy. In addition, when the patient is pleased with the care they are receiving, this makes the nurse happy and improves nurse job satisfaction.

Nurses, always involved in patient care, sometimes experience detrimental effects with prolonged stress or “burnout” during their career throughout the years. Burnout is defined as an extended response to physical or emotional stressors. Some examples of these stressors are; memories of witnessing death, patient and family suffering, emotional stress of losing patients, feeling emotionally and physically drained, or emotional disconnect from staff which can all contribute to burnout. As a result, nurses can experience; exhaustion, anxiety, dissatisfaction and low capacity. Overall, burnout can have negative effects not just on the emotional and physical health of nurses but also on; patient satisfaction, outcomes and mortality of nurses and patients. Although, there are ways to reduce or prevent these negative effects of burnout from manifesting. For example, nurses can apply interventions to reduce these risks including; staff support, onsite counselors and psychiatrists for nurses and salary increases and reimbursement opportunities for nurses through clinical ladder programs. Nurses can also start by just saying no to certain requests, being aware of their tolerance level, by taking care of themselves and having fun outside of work. On the other hand, others do not think nursing burnout is fatal and nurses just need a break from their job to initiate change. Although, the issue of burnout is prevalent in nurse’s careers which need to be addressed more in society in

Nurses are especially vulnerable to several related effects of stress, such as burnout, job dissatisfaction, increased interpersonal problems, increased health complaints, disturbances in sleep patterns, as well as clinical depression and anxiety (Villani, Grassi, Cognetta, Toniolo, Cipresso, & Riva, 2013). The potential for stress can be reduced by resolving difficulties in the workplace promptly, addressing staff shortages, turnover and absenteeism, and developing clear objectives and plans (McIntosh, & Sheppy, 2013). Learning to manage and reduce stress by developing insight and coping strategies will help to maintain and promote nursing integrity and consistent patient care (McIntosh, & Sheppy, 2013).

Like many of the questionnaires utilized for research in the articles used for this literature review, it was anonymous, and administered and collected during class. This form of data collection provided high turn in rates allowing researchers to have a wide study scale. According to Hicks, T., & Heastie, S., contrasting levels of stress and coping mechanisms were present in these students. It was noted that traditional college students experience more psychological stress than their nontraditional student counterparts. In addition, during the first year of college, the amount of stress experienced by students is the highest in comparison to stress in the remainder of the years. These results are especially important because it stresses the need for a strong health and wellness center within colleges and universities.

The nursing field is an occupation that is naturally subject to a high degree of stress because professionals in this field deal with grief, suffering, and death cases. The vulnerability to stress in the nursing occupation is also fueled by the fact that several nursing tasks tend to be mundane and unrewarding. In normal standards, nursing tasks range from being distasteful to degrading, disgusting, and frightening. Generally, many visits by patients to health care services are usually brought by stress-related illnesses to an extent that 90 percent of these visits are associated to stress. Therefore, stress is part of nearly every person's existence since it's linked to the development of mental disorders, enhanced stress-related diseases, and minimized immunologic function.

Stress is no new phenomenon. It’s been around as long as man and has captivated scholars and physicians alike. With the growing demand for degrees in the professional world comes the growth of the number of college students. The relationship between stress and college students has become the subject of on-going research. Several studies show that stress in college students is increasing with time and the authors of those studies are attributing this to an increased number of students. Other research seems to indicate that it isn’t necessarily the stress that is increasing but the awareness of it. Increased awareness of stress, and its unique toll on individuals, allows colleges and students to recognize

Which collects the health statistics of students from universities all around the world every second year, reported that 40.2 percent of Santa Clara University students identified that stress affected their individual academic performance during the last 12 months of their studies (Temple,2011). Temple (2011) reported a survey conducted in 2004 that assessed the overall well-being of 47,202 undergraduates nationwide. The findings were that 32.4 percent of students recognized stress as the main obstacle to their academic performance. This was said to be above the common cold, depression, death of a relative, sexual assault and eating disorders. Stress is “once considered as the nation’s number one health epidemic; prolonged stress can lead to ulcers, heart disease, stroke, major depression and to a shorter life span” (Temple, 2011).