Impact of Resilience on Nursing Students’ Perceptions of Stress, Anxiety, and Fear Associated with COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic had affected negatively the mental well-being of nursing students. However, limited research is currently available that explored mental health issues of nursing students. Aim: To investigate the impact of resilience on stress, anxiety, and fear of COVID-19 among the nursing students. Methods: A cross-sectional research design was adopted for this study. A total of 268 nursing students from three universities in South India. responded to an Online survey. Data was collected using self-reported questionnaires in June 2021. Results: The findings revealed that most of the students had a normal level of resilience (3.06 ± 0.39) and low levels of stress (17.885 ± 0.09). The mean scores on fear of COVID-19 (18.31 ± 5.68) and COVID-19 Anxiety Syndrome Scale (C-19ASS) (21.67 ± 7.42) suggest that around half of the participants had a high level of fear and anxiety. The resilience of the participants was negatively correlated with fear ( r = −260, p < .001) and perceived stress ( r = −0.307, p < .001). Similarly, fear was positively correlated with anxiety ( r = 0.211, p < .001) and perceived stress ( r = 0.418, p < .001). Conclusion: Our findings showed that nearly 50% of the nursing students had a high level of COVID-19 associated fear and anxiety. Therefore, we suggest that innovative strategies are needed to improve students’ resilience and mental health during highly stressful situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic.