The influence of social skills on stress reduction before nursing training

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of students' social skills on stress reduction, before they underwent nursing training. The subjects of the study were 88 nursing junior college second graders who agreed to participate in the study. I used "the social skill standard necessary for a student aiming to get a job that involves supporting other people"; this standard was developed by Higuchi/Hashimoto as an index of social skills. In addition, I measured stress, using the Profile of Mood States (POMS), which was the measurement standard of feelings. As a result of the analysis, some social skills and factors of POMS had a meaningful correlation. "Obedient self-expression," "another person's commission/another person's support skills," and "another person's reception skills" had meaningful correlations with stress. The results supported the hypothesis that a student's high social skills reduced stress before he/she underwent nursing training. It was suggested that the introduction of social skills could serve as a resource to reduce stress before students undergo nursing training.