Nursing graduates' lived experiences of anxiety during their final year at University: a phenomenological study.

BACKGROUND

Nursing students voiced that they were stressed or anxious during their final year at university. Further, they articulated that their anxiety affected their academic performance as well as their motivation to work on their clinical placement.

OBJECTIVES

This study was designed to describe nursing graduates' perceptions of their lived experiences of anxiety during their final year.

DESIGN

Phenomenology was chosen.

SETTINGS

Three universities in Taiwan.

PARTICIPANTS

A purposive sample of 18 nursing graduates with experiences of anxiety.

METHODS

Data were collected using a semi-structured interview and analyzed utilizing Colaizzi's seven-step method.

RESULTS

Four themes emerged from the findings. The first was: uncertainty about future employment. This included negative clinical practicum experiences impacted on future career choices and uncertainty about future workplace choices. The second theme was: emotional relationships and life experiences becoming chaotic. This included anxiety about the loss of established relationships and financial insecurities. The third theme was: three phases of anxiety experienced in preparation for the national examination. They comprised: feeling anxiety but not taking action to study; increasing anxiety and beginning to study and, exacerbated anxiety and cramming for the national examination. The fourth theme was: adjustment strategies. They involved; looking for support to release emotional stress; changing the situation and fine-tuning the stress; positive thinking and self-affirmations and also, self-reflecting and consolidating learning.

CONCLUSIONS

Finding could inform nursing teachers on nurses' lived experiences of anxiety during their final year, especially that related to the national examination before registration. Further, findings could be used as a map to facilitate nursing teachers in the provision of suitable teaching and counselling for final year students to alleviate their anxiety.