IJCM_324A: Self-Compassion and its Association with Resilience among Senior Nursing Students in Rural Area of Singur, West Bengal

Abstract

Background: Self-compassion involves showing kindness to oneself during times of suffering. In nursing, students face diverse challenges; resilience helps them to serve compassionate care for the community & to themselves. Objectives: To measure the self-compassion and resilience among final year ANM nursing students and to find the association between these two and with other stress factors. Methodology: An Institution-based observational study with Mixed Method study (QUAN + qual) design, was conducted from July to December 2023 among final year ANM students of a selected college in rural area of Singur, West Bengal, comprising a Cross-sectional quantitative part and qualitative part conducted through key informant interviews with relevant stakeholders until data saturation is achieved. 190 students participated via census method. Self- compassion and resilience were measured using Neff’s and Connor Davidson’s scales. Quantitative data were analyzed with SPSS 16, while qualitative analysis is ongoing. Ethical approval was obtained from AIIH&PH, Kolkata’s Institutional Ethics Committee. Results: The median age of participants was 22 with IQR of (22, 25), 42.8% students belong to middle class according to modified BG Prasad scale, 66.3% students were unmarried. According to the mean score of Neff’s self- compassion scale 27.8% students showed low levels of self-compassion while 43.7% scored moderate self-compassion level. The mean score of resilience was 21.5, where 55.06% students scored less then mean resilience score which shows low resilience among students. We found strong positive correlation between Self compassion and resilience (Spearmann’s rho = 0.738, p = 0.000). Conclusion: In demanding professions like nursing, self-compassion and resilience are vital. Embracing self-compassion addresses self-doubt, while resilience facilitates navigating challenges independently, fostering self- healing.