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Nursing and midwifery students' stress and coping during their undergraduate education programmes: An integrative review.

Nurse education today
February 1, 2018
Bridie McCarthy et al. (7 authors)
Journal ArticleReviewHuman Study
Study Details

Study Goal

The researchers aimed to examine stress sources, coping mechanisms, and interventions, including Mindfulness, for undergraduate nursing and midwifery students.

Results Summary

Mindfulness showed some promising positive results in helping students cope with stress, though interventions were varied and in early stages of development.

Population

Undergraduate nursing and midwifery students.

Effective Dosage

Not specified

Duration

Not specified

Interactions

None mentioned

Extracted Claims (1)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
Mindfulness
increase
coping with stress
student nurses/midwives
-
showed some promising positive results
#1
Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this review is to examine the literature related to the sources of stress, coping mechanisms and interventions to support undergraduate nursing and midwifery students to cope with stress during their undergraduate education. DESIGN: Integrative literature review. DATA SOURCES: The databases CINAHL, PubMed and PsycINFO were searched for articles published between 2010 and 2016. Search terms in various combinations were used for example; student nurse, student midwife, undergraduate, stress, coping and interventions. REVIEW METHODS: An integrative review based on Whittemore and Knafl's approach was used to conduct the review. RESULTS: The search generated 25 articles that met the inclusion criteria. The key sources of stress emanated from clinical, academic and financial issues but predominantly from the clinical environment. Students used a variety of coping strategies, both adaptive and maladaptive. These appear to be influenced by their past and present circumstances such as, their needs, what was at stake and their options for coping. Interventions for student nurses/midwives to cope with stress were varied and in the early stages of development. Mindfulness showed some promising positive results. Interventions focussed on the individual level excluding the wider social context or organisation level. CONCLUSIONS: Stress is pervasive in all aspects of undergraduate nursing and midwifery education. Nursing and midwifery educators need to be aware of this impact and provide appropriate support to students in both the clinical and academic environments. Further research is needed to capture the experience of stress from the students' perspective as well as the barriers and facilitators to supporting students from the preceptors'/mentors' perspectives. Finally, more intervention studies are needed to identify and compare what interventions are effective in supporting students to cope with stress during their undergraduate education.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Adaptation, PsychologicalEducation, Nursing, BaccalaureateHumansMentorsMidwiferyNursing Education ResearchStress, PsychologicalStudents, Nursing
Study Links
Quality Scores
SafetyNot Assessed
Efficacy70/10
Quality65/10
Citation Metrics
Total Citations130
Citations/Year18.6
Relative Citation Ratio14.43
NIH Percentile98.9%
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.95
Weight Score2.15
Normalized Score0.61
Related Supplements
Nursing and midwifery students' stress and coping during the... | Panacea Index