Assessment Of Clinical Stress Among The Undergraduate Nursing Students Of Taibah University In Geriatric Nursing Course

Abstract

Background and Aims: Stress is a key factor that impacts the quality of nursing in various medical settings. The set of factors that can cause stress in students enrolled in the different academic disciplines is significantly different from the stressors identified to cause stress in nursing students globally. Methods: Nursing students in Geriatric nursing course (140 students) in Taibah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were enrolled. The Student Nurse Stressor-15 Scale (SNS-15) was used to assess the levels of stress experienced by students on older adult clinical placements. Results: The study revealed that the perceived stress among the nursing students patterns due to academic work- load (3.21 ± 1.29%), placement workload (3.21 ± 1.26%), < missing on placement days (3.41 ± 1.39%), < staffing level (3.42 ± 1.18%), < clinical skills (3.51 ± 1.24%), < number of workdays per week (3.56 ± 1.37%) and < treatment by staff (3.66 ± 1.17). Surprisingly, a significant number of students (20%) was found to be stressed out due to canteen facility (3.06 ±1.36%) which is the highest level of stress observed categorically. Conclusions: Based on obtained results, it can be concluded as age of students goes beyond 30, the level stress of placement increases significantly. The level of stress experienced in nursing students cannot be assigned to their gender.