Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
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‘Sources of Stress and Ways of Coping among Bachelor of
Science (BSc.) Undergraduate Nursing Students’
Doris O’ Toole, RGN, RCN, MSc. in Nursing (Hons), BSc. in
Nursing, Dip. in Practice Nursing.
Clinical Placement Co-ordinator, Children’s University Hospital,
Temple Street, Dublin 1, Republic of Ireland
Correspondence: email: doris.o’toole@cuh.ie
Introduction:
Stressors and coping strategies experienced by Bachelor of Science
(BSc.) undergraduate nursing students was explored following the
recent curriculum changes in nurse education in Ireland, from
apprenticeship to diploma and more recently to a four year degree
level training (BSc.). Recent changes in nurse education in Ireland
has prompted the examination of stress and coping as experienced
by undergraduate students. This study examined stressors and
coping strategies among 1 st and 2 nd year students, to gain an
understanding of the phenomenon of stress experienced during
training.
Aims:
The purpose of this study was to address the following research
question: what are the stressors experienced and coping strategies
sourced by the first cohort of undergraduate nursing students
undertaking the BSc. degree training programme? The aim was to
identify the most common stressors experienced and the coping
strategies used by these students. The objectives included:
a) To gain an understanding of the stressors experienced by BSc.
nursing students
b) To identify coping strategies sourced by BSc. nursing students
c) To compare the variables (gender, branch of training, year of
training) among 1 st and 2 nd year nursing students
d) To provide data that would be of future value to both clinical
and academic staff in supporting nursing students
Sampling:
Convenience sampling was employed which involved a large
teaching university in an urban area in the Republic of Ireland. The
target population for the study was all nursing students registered
on year one and two of the BSc. undergraduate nurse training
programme which consisted of 364 students. At the time of
undertaken this study, the BSc. programme was in its second year
of implementation. First years (n = 201) and second years (n =
163) were available for recruitment. Students from all branches of
nurse training, General, Intellectual Disability and Psychiatry
(Mental Health) were invited to participate in the study. The
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