ARTİCLE:A literature review on stress

and coping strategies in nursing

students

Leodoro J. Labrague, Denise M. McEnroe-Petitte, Donna

Gloe, Loretta Thomas, Ioanna V. Papathanasiou &
Konstantinos Tsaras
z
Journal of Mental Health
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Why I chose this article

Stress affects every aspect of our lives, as well as our professional

lives, such as being a student or a nurse and occupational stress
also affects our lives greatly and we need to deal with this situation.
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AIM

 The aims of this review were: to identify the level of stress, its
sources, and to explore coping methods used by student
nurses during nursing education(1)

 While stress is gaining attention as an important subject of

research in nursing coping strategies, as an important construct,
has never been comprehensively in the literature reviewed.
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İntroduction

 Lazarus and Folkman (1987) stated that stress is “a situation in

which internal demands, external demands, or both are appraised
as straining or exceeding the adaptive or coping resources of an
individual or group.”(1)

 Stress in nursing education is affected by many problems,

especially the growth of the nurse's role, meeting the demands of
the role, and coping with the uncertainties posed by the role. These
include illness, pain, medications, unpleasant or unpredictable
events, internal and external conflicts, fear of the unknown, cultural
and environmental factors. problems are a few of them
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 Current evidence has shown that there are two main sources of
stress among nursing students: academic and clinical stressors;
the latter is perceived as more intense by nursing students at all
levels(1)

 It has been emphasized in many studies that the most common

coping behavior among nursing students is the problem-solving
approach, and that the avoidance approach is the least used
coping behavior among nursing students.
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 Unmanaged stress can also cause the nursing student to

experience negative emotional states (such as sadness, anxiety,
anxiety, anxiety, anger, lack of self-confidence, guilt, grief,
nervous breakdown, depression, feelings of loneliness, fatigue,
or insomnia)
z METHOD

 The narrative conceptual synthesis method was used to review

quantitative studies reporting sources of stress in nursing
students and their coping mechanisms. A two-part analysis is
presented. Stress levels and its sources were the main focus of
the first analysis. Identifying nursing students coping
mechanisms were the emphasis of the second analysis.(1)
 z Instrument

Most of the studies utilized the Perceived Stress Scale

(PSS)developed by Sheu et al

A study by Lindop(1999) detailed a questionnaire consisting of six

sections including: clinical stress, academic stress, emotional
stress response, coping and personal factors.
z RESULTS

 One study reported high levels of stress (Shukla et al.All of the

studies reviewed identified sources of stress; three of these
reported exams as their main source.Evans and Kelly
conducted a study to investigate the stress experiences and
coping skills of graduate nursing students in Ireland.Analysis of
mean scores revealed that the top ranked stressors were taking
exams with average scores and high workload.Three studies
reported that the main source of stress in students was patient
care. One cross-sectional study with 101 nursing students
reported.
 Reported
z that workloads and assignments were the main sources
of stress among 231 nursing students in China, followed by stress
from peers and daily life. In a cross-sectional study conducted in
Jordan, undergraduate nursing students reported that stressors
mostly stemmed from homework

 This review identified coping strategies used by nursing students

during stressful events. Six studies reported problem-solving
strategies as an approach to coping with stress. For example,
Jordanian nursing students participating in clinical practice in a
mental health setting used problem solving as a: Basic approach
to coping with stress Students revealed that they used positive
coping strategies using the problem solving approach.
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Discussion and Conclusion

 In this review, stress levels, sources, and coping strategies used by student nurses
when they encounter stress during the nursing education process were
investigated.

 Given the diversity of instruments used to measure stress and coping in nursing
students, comparing findings across reviewed studies was challenging in the
review.

 Additionally, most studies have suggested that nursing students face multiple
stressors, including caring for patients, assignments and workloads, negative
interactions with staff and faculty, lack of clinical competence, and taking exams.

 In one study, the authors recommended establishing hospital policies to support

nursing students' learning, as well as establishing support systems to help equip
nursing students with positive coping strategies.
z This review is valuable to nurse educators as it is the first to critically
discuss stress and coping mechanisms among nursing students
during the nursing education process. It suggests that more research
is needed to link specific coping strategies to stressors in nursing
school. Once this connection is established, nursing programs can
provide better education and support to nursing students. The most
frequently used strategy for dealing with and coping with stress was
the problem-solving approach, which was considered the most
appropriate way to cope with stress. However, although this review
provided up-to-date empirical data on stress and coping in nursing
students, some methodological weaknesses were identified, such as
the research design, scales or instruments used, sample size, and
sampling methods.(1)
 z Referans

 (1)Leodoro J. Labrague, Denise M. McEnroe-Petitte, Donna

Gloe, LorettaThomas, Ioanna V. Papathanasiou & Konstantinos
Tsaras (2016): A literature review on stressand coping strategies
in nursing students, Journal of Mental Health
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Preparer

 DOĞUKAN KIRBAŞ

 190102004

 Psycologhy student