Clinical Stress Levels of Nursing Students Experienced During Clinical Practice in the COVID-19 Period: A Sectional Study

Abstract

Purpose: The study was conducted in a descriptive cross-sectional fashion to determine the clinical stress levels experienced by nursing department students during clinical practice in the COVID-19 pandemic period.

Method: The population of the study consisted of nursing department students (n: 272) educated in a health school. The sampling consisted of second, third, and fourth-grade students (n: 193) who had clinical practice courses in the fall semester. The study was completed with those who were willing to participate in the study (161 students who owned smartphones or tablets). The study data were collected digitally with a questionnaire form, the Clinical Stress Questionnaire (QSA), the subjective expression chart that was prepared by the researchers to evaluate the fear of being infected with the COVID-19 virus and other infectious agents, and the google form.

Results: It was found that 71.4% of the students who participated in the study were female, 28.0% had COVID-19 infection, and 34.8% had individuals with a family history of COVID-19 infection. The mean total score of the clinical stress levels of the students was 51.73 ±3.44. It was found that the students who did not feel ready for clinical practice in the COVID-19 pandemic process had higher clinical stress levels and the mean score of fear of being infected with COVID-19 and other infection factors (p<0.05).

Conclusion and Recommendations: It was found that nursing students had high clinical stress levels in the COVID-19 pandemic, which was associated with the presence of COVID-19 infection and the presence of people diagnosed with COVID-19 among their relatives. In this respect, it can be recommended to provide scientific data about the COVID-19 virus to the students and to provide the necessary support by evaluating the stress levels of the students in clinical practices.