Author: Samantha    King

Major: Nursing

Graduation Year: 2019

Thesis Advisor: Patricia Poirier

Description of Publication: Prolonged stress has shown a direct correlation to negative health outcomes. College students are amongst the population of individuals who experience chronic stress due to a variety of factors (e.g. heavy course load, pressures to succeed, and a new environment and social setting). Nursing students in particular are exposed to considerable stress as they face these same stress triggers as other college majors in addition to the strict pass/fail guidelines, clinical experience, and the pressures of life or death experiences when working in the health field. Knowing that stress has a profound impact on health and well-being, nursing students should be offered interventions, tools, and specific measures to relieve the stress they experience as undergraduate students working towards their degree. When comparing sophomore-level (predominantly second-year) and senior-level (predominantly fourth-year) undergraduate nursing students at the University of Maine, it was found that the sophomores had higher levels of perceived stress, emotional exhaustion, and cynicism in comparison to seniors. It is essential that nursing faculty target interventions to reduce stress at each level of the nursing program in order to combat the stressors that these students face and provide an environment that enhances learning and facilitates growth as the students continue with their education.

Location of Publication:

URL to Thesis: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/509/