Table 5.
Sources of stress perceived by nursing students
| Stress factor/item | M | SD | Range | Item ranking | Factor ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I. Stress from taking care of patients | 1 | ||||
| Lack of experience and ability in providing nursing care and in making judgments (Q2) | 1.94 | 0.89 | 0–4 | 1 | |
| Lack of knowledge about how to help patients with physio-psycho-social problems(Q3) | 1.74 | 0.89 | 0–4 | 5 | |
| Do not know how to communicate with patients(Q4) | 1.41 | 0.86 | 0–4 | 13 | |
| Worry about not being trusted or accepted by patients or patients’ family(Q8) | 1.47 | 0.91 | 0–4 | 11 | |
| Experience difficulties in changing from the role of a student to that of a nurse(Q9) | 1.12 | 0.85 | 0–4 | 17 | |
| Inability to provide appropriate responses to doctors’, teachers’, and patients’ question(Q10) | 1.77 | 0.81 | 0–4 | 3 | |
| Inability to reach one’s expectations dealing with challenges arising from the gap between clinical performance and self-expectation (Q11) | 1.87 | 0.92 | 0–4 | 2 | |
| Unable to provide patients with good nursing care(Q12) | 1.50 | 0.76 | 0–4 | 9 | |
| II. Stress from teachers and nursing staff | 4 | ||||
| Experience discrepancy between theory and practice (Q1) | 1.62 | 0.89 | 0–4 | 7 | |
| Feel that teachers do not give fair evaluation on students (Q14) | 0.73 | 0.78 | 0–4 | 26 | |
| Medical personnel lack empathy and are not willing to help(Q17) | 0.72 | 0.73 | 0–4 | 27 | |
| Do not know how to discuss patients’ illness with teachers, and medical and nursing personnel(Q18) | 1.12 | 0.85 | 0–4 | 18 | |
| Feel stressed that teacher’s instruction is different from one’s expectations(Q20) | 1.04 | 0.81 | 0–4 | 19 | |
| Lack of care and guidance from teachers(Q25) | 0.68 | 0.73 | 0–4 | 28 | |
| III. Stress from assignments and workload | 2 | ||||
| Worry about bad grades(Q13) | 1.76 | 1.08 | 0–4 | 4 | |
| Feel that the requirements of clinical practice exceed one’s physical and emotional endurance (Q15) | 1.34 | 0.88 | 0–4 | 14 | |
| Experience pressure from the nature and quality of clinical practice (Q16) | 1.70 | 1.09 | 0–4 | 6 | |
| Feel that dull and inflexible clinical practice affects one’s family and social life (Q19) | 1.49 | 1.05 | 0–4 | 10 | |
| Feel that one’s performance does not meet teachers’ expectations (Q22) | 1.31 | 0.88 | 0–4 | 15 | |
| V. Stress from peers and daily life | 6 | ||||
| Feel that clinical practice affects one’s involvement in extracurricular activities (Q5) | 0.84 | 1.00 | 0–4 | 24 | |
| Feel pressure from teachers who evaluate students’ performance by comparison (Q21) | 0.76 | 0.79 | 0–4 | 25 | |
| Cannot get along with other peers in the group(Q23) | 0.67 | 0.73 | 0–4 | 29 | |
| Experience competition from peers in school and clinical practice(Q24) | 0.89 | 0.81 | 0–4 | 23 | |
| IV. Stress from lack of professional knowledge and skills | 3 | ||||
| Unfamiliar with patients’ diagnoses and treatments(Q6) | 1.42 | 0.76 | 0–4 | 12 | |
| Unfamiliar with medical history and terms(Q7) | 1.51 | 0.82 | 0–4 | 8 | |
| Unfamiliar with professional nursing skills(Q26) | 1.29 | 0.83 | 0–4 | 16 | |
| V. Stress from the environment | 5 | ||||
| Feel stressed from the rapid change in patient’s condition(Q27) | 0.93 | 0.72 | 0–4 | 22 | |
| Unfamiliar with the ward facilities(Q28) | 0.95 | 0.79 | 0–4 | 21 | |
| Feel stressed in the hospital environment where clinical practice takes place(Q29) | 1.00 | 0.90 | 0–4 | 20 | |
| Overall | 36.65 | 15.95 | 0–95 | – | – |