The Perceived Stress Level of Nursing Students Regarding The Clinical Practices in the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the perceived stress levels of nursing students regarding the clinical practice during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study was conducted between May 20 and June 20, 2020, with 252 students studying in all classes in the Nursing Departments of Necmettin Erbakan University. The data were collected using the Information Form and the Perceived Stress Scale for Nursing Students (PSSNS). 52.0% of the students felt uncomfortable thinking about Covid-19, and 62.2% stated that their anxiety increased when they thought they were infected with Covid-19. The study further revealed that 57.9% of the nursing students were afraid to provide care to the individuals diagnosed with Covid-19 and 82.1% stated that they did not have enough knowledge to provide care to those individuals. Our study revealed that there is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the Perceived Stress Scale for Nursing Students and the students’ gender (p<0.01), the status of willingly choosing the nursing profession (p<0.01), the interest in the nursing profession during the Covid-19 pandemic (p<0.01), having enough knowledge to provide care to individuals diagnosed with Covid-19 (p<0.01), being uncomfortable thinking about Covid-19 (p<0.01), being afraid to provide care to individuals diagnosed with Covid-19 (p<0.01), and the increased anxiety level thinking that they were infected with Covid-19 (p<0.01). In this study, female nurses and nurses who did not choose the nursing profession willingly, whose interests in the nursing profession were negatively affected during the pandemic period, who believe that they do not have the knowledge or who do not want to provide care to individuals diagnosed with Covid-19, who are afraid to provide care, and who are uncomfortable thinking about Covid-19 were found to have higher perceived stress levels. It is recommended to offer training and counseling to the nursing students with high perceived stress levels