Perceived Stress Among Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Nursing students are often exposed to multiple academic, clinical, and personal stressors that may adversely affect their psychosocial health, academic performance, and professional formation. Examining the level of perceived stress in undergraduate nursing students is crucial to screening students at risk and providing them with adequate support strategies. Objectives: To evaluate the perceived stress level of under-graduate nursing students and its relationship with selected sociodemographic factors. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 100 first-year undergraduate nursing students of PSP Nursing College Oragadam, Tamil Nadu. Semi-structured questionnaire and 10 item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) were used to collect data. Stress was defined as low (0–13), moderate (14–26) or high stress levels. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 25·0. For categorical variables median and percentage, Chi square test was used to assess association between the variables. Statistical significance was defined as p-value <0.05 Results: Most of the participants were in the age group of 18 years (90.0%), male (60.0%) and hostellers (85.0%). Eighty-two students (62.0%) had a moderate level of perceived stress, 26 (20.0%) were without too much stress and 24 (18.0%) were suffering from high perceived stress levels. A significant association was observed between perceived stress and male/female (p = 0.041) gender status, and resident home (p = 0.032). The mean perceived stress of female students and hostellers were high compared to male students. Conclusion: The levels of perceived stress in the majority of undergraduate nursing students were moderate. Stress significantly influenced Gender and Residential status. Early screening, counselling services and stress management interventions can help nursing students present better mental health and academic performance. Keywords: Perceived stress, Nursing students, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Undergraduate students, Mental health, Cross-sectional study.