ABSTRACT

This descriptive study was conducted to determine the stress factors and stress levels of students in the Fundamentals of Nursing course.

The study population consisted of 118 students enrolled in the Fundamentals of Nursing Course that was a part of the Bachelor of Nursing Program in the Health Sciences Department at Eastern Mediterranean University. They were enrolled for the spring semester of the academic year 2016–2017. The study was completed with 90 students who agreed to participate. Data were collected using the Personal Information Form, Stress Factors Questionnaire, Clinical Stress Questionnaire (CSQ), and Nursing Education Stress Scale (NESS). Mann–Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis H, and Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient tests were used for descriptive statistical analyses of the data.

The mean score of the students according to the NESS was 69.46 ± 17.29, and the mean score according to the CSQ was 33.87 ± 11.20. A low-level, significant, and negative linear relationship was found between the overall mean scores of the NESS and the CSQ (p < .05). Students reported that they were affected at a medium level in the theoretical part of the course and extremely emotionally affected by the factors related with clinical practice, skills laboratory, assignments, and tests.

As per the results of the study, use of up-to-date teaching approaches in skills laboratories and activities to increase school–hospital collaboration are recommended.