top of page

Stress in Nursing Education

What is Stress?

Stress

  • Total response - body and mind - to whatever stressors, pressures, or demands an individual experiences

  • Exposure to stimuli or stressor that exceed an individual's coping capacity

Stressor

  • Internal experience (thought or feeling)

  • External experience (outside circumstance or stimulus)

  • Combination of both

Causes + Contributing Factors of Stress in
Nursing Education

Academic

  • Fear of failure

  • Difficulty understanding material

  • Heavy homework and exam loads

  • Simulation experiences

Clinical

  • Medical Emergencies

  • Patient pain, suffering, and death

  • Struggling with communication with patients, educators, and healthcare staff

  • Fear of causing harm to patients

  • Fear of making mistakes

  • Judgement/Critiques from professors and peers

  • Lack of well-developed skills

  • Insufficient training

Effects of Stress on Nursing Students

These obstacles can negatively impact a nursing student's coping ability, self-confidence, motivation, academic performance, and clinical decision-making skills
bottom of page