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Table 5 Sources of stress perceived by nursing students

From: Factors associated with perceived stress of clinical practice among associate degree nursing students in Taiwan

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

–

–