Correlation between pressure sources and coping styles during clinical practice of undergraduate nurses from key and ordinary medical colleges

Abstract

Objective To explore the correlation between pressure sources and coping styles of undergraduate nursing students from key and ordinary medical colleges, so as to provide a reference to medical colleges for reducing students′ pressure and maintaining their physical and psychological health during internship through organizational and effective interventions. Methods Undergraduate nursing students during their mid-term practice (after five-month practice from July to December 2015) in the West China Hospital, Sichuan University were selected and investigated by nursing student′s stress scale (NSSS) and simplified coping style questionnaire (SCSQ), and the correlation between their pressure sources and coping styles during mid-term clinical practice was analyzed by comparison. Results Altogether 110 questionnaires were given out, 108 were retrieved and 105 were valid, and the valid return rate was 95.5%. The average score for NSSS dimensions of undergraduate nurses from key medical colleges was (2.76±0.70), while that of those nurses from ordinary medical colleges was (2.35±0.69) (t=2.668, P<0.05); the biggest pressure of undergraduate nursing students from key colleges was social support and professional identity (3.25±0.89), and the biggest pressure of the students from ordinary colleges resulted from clinical work (2.61±1.02), with a statistically significant difference demonstrated through the comparison between two groups in five pressure dimensions, namely, clinical teaching, conditions of patients and their family members, working environment and interpersonal relationship, supervision and evaluation as well as social support and professional identity (t=2.159, 2.885, 3.084, 3.983, 3.128; P<0.05). The score for negative coping style (NC) of students from key colleges was (1.22±0.42), while that of students from ordinary colleges was (0.99±0.52). Pearson correlation analysis showed: the NC style of students from key colleges was positively correlated with the overall pressure level (r=0.281, P<0.05), and the clinical teaching pressure, type of household registration and whether they are the only child, were the influencing factors of NC style; as for the students from ordinary colleges, NC style was impacted by the pressure from working environment and interpersonal relationship, and it was positively correlated with this pressure source (r=0.303, P<0.05). Conclusions The undergraduate nursing students from two types of colleges have different pressure sources and coping styles during their mid-term clinical practice, which is affected by different factors. It indicates that clinical nursing teaching should pay attention to different pressure sources and coping styles of undergraduate nursing students from key and ordinary medical colleges, and enhance nursing students′ ability to cope with and manage pressure with targeted pressure management strategies. Key words: Students, nursing; Pressure; Pressure source; Copying style