Nursing Students' Perceived Faculty Support, Stress, and Substance Misuse

Nursing students experience high levels of stress. Coping mechanisms such as utilization of social support are effective in managing the effects of stress and promoting individual well-being. The use of social support from faculty members and peers in nursing programs has not been studied sufficiently. Faculty members who can perceive and understand student emotions add to the students' positive perception of the educational environment, making it more conducive to learning. To identify the stress experience and use of social support as a coping mechanism in traditional and second degree nursing students' educational experiences. A mixed method study was conducted. Undergraduate nursing students at a private university. 107 baccalaureate nursing students enrolled in either a traditional (n=49) or second degree (n=58) program during the Fall 2011 semester. Five instruments were combined to develop the quantitative and qualitative questions for an online survey. Traditional and second degree nursing students report high levels of anxiety, worry and depression in response to stress, resulting in feelings of rejection and inadequacy. Respondents used faculty members for support less frequently than they used their peers, spouse/significant other or parents. Second degree students and traditional students differ in their level of alcohol consumption with traditional students more likely to drink heavily than second degree students. In addition, traditional students are more likely to use fellow nursing students and other friends as social support, whereas second degree students rely more on their spouse/significant other. Students' high levels of maladaptive reactions to stress should encourage educators to help students develop positive coping strategies. Educators have the potential to impact the development of their students as they transition into nurses capable of handling the rigors of the profession. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perception of level and sources of stress in nursing students in the various years of the baccalaureate nursing program by identifying the general level of physiological and psychological health, identifying the levels of stress experienced by students in second-, third-, and fourth-year nursing and by identifying the areas that are perceived as being particularly stressful. The method was a descriptive correlational design. The sample consisted of 94 baccalaureate nursing students. Data were collected using two questionnaires--the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the Stress Inventory. Data were analyzed using frequency distributions, t-tests, content analysis, measures of correlation, and analysis of variance. Results showed that the students experienced high stress levels and that they are at risk of having a physical or psychiatric illness. Analysis was done splitting the groups by student status, i.e., RN or generic. Results showed that while both groups are stressed, the generic students report significantly higher levels of stress. Sources of stress also were identified and reported in this article.