Anson, C.Y. Tang
Tung Wah College ,Hong Kong
Title: Perceived stress and coping strategies of baccalaureate nursing students clinical practicum: a cross-sectional study
Biography
Biography: Anson, C.Y. Tang
Abstract
Background: Nursing students are facing much stress in the course of study especially in the clinical practice component. The unpredictable and complex clinical environment imposes them much pressure and the way they cope with the pressure is essential as the inappropriate coping will definitely have negative impact on the quality of patient care. Since limited literature is available to report the factors affecting their stress level during clinical practicum and their coping strategies in Hong Kong, this study aims to explore the factors affecting nursing students’ stress level and their common coping strategies. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted to explore nursing students’ stress level, stressors and coping methods during clinical practice in Hong Kong. Baccalaureate nursing students who had completed all clinical practicums required by the undergraduate nursng programme were the accessible population. Simple random sampling was used to randomly select students from a class list of that nursing programme by drawing lot. The participants had to complete the self-reported questionnaire which comprised the demographic survey, Assessment of Stress among Nursing Students and COPE Inventory. Results: A total of 131 eligible students returned the questionnaires with a response rate of 100%. They perceived that the most stressful events during the practicum were performance of practical activities and professional communication. Participants were prone to use problem or emtion-focused coping strategies but they will use non-functional coping strategies especaiily in female students. Female students used more social support, mental disengagement and focus on and venting emtions as compared to those in male students (p<0.05). Conclusion: nurse educators and clinical mentors shall pay more attention to students whom may tend to use non-functional coping methods to deal with their stress. Further studies may focus on investigating the association between the characteristics of students and the use of non-functional coping strategies.