Abstract
Objective To identify nursing students’ perceptions of stress in the distinct situations to which they are exposed during clinical practice placements. Method Descriptive, cross-sectional study. Subjects: first- and second-year students of the Diploma in Nursing of the University of Jaén (Spain) during the academic year 2002-2003, selected through convenience sampling. Students’ perceptions were evaluated using the KEZKAK questionnaire. For analysis of the data, factorial analysis of the questionnaire’s items, descriptive analysis and bivariable analysis between perceptions of stress and age, year of study, and sex were performed. Results The study sample consisted of 169 students (66.7%) out of 253 first- and second-year students. The mean age was 21.52 years (SD = 4.68). A total of 34.9% were in the first year and 82.2% were women. The mean stress score was 1.72 (SD = 0.36). The situations perceived as being most stressful were: “Doing work badly and adversely affecting the patient”, “Pricking myself with an infected needle” and “Making a medication error”. Grouped by factors, these situations were: “Making mistakes at work”, “Adversely affecting the patient while providing care” and “Being adversely affected during patient care”. Statistically significant differences were found among the mean stress score according to year of study, age, and sex. Conclusions Students reported they experienced a considerable degree of stress in clinical practice placements. Stress was greater in the second year than in the first and in women than in men. The younger the student, the greater the stress.
Published Version
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