Baluwa Masumbuko Albert, Lazaro Matthews, Mhango Lucky, Msiska Gladys
Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Mzuzu University, Mzuzu, Malawi.
University of Malawi, Kamuzu College of Nursing, Lilongwe, Malawi.
Adv Med Educ Pract. 2021 May 28;12:547-556. doi: 10.2147/AMEP.S300457. eCollection 2021.
Stress among nursing students has been widely investigated across the globe, and evidence suggests that nursing programs are stressful. Students from resource constrained contexts, such as Malawi, often find it difficult and over stressing to be socialized into the nursing profession. However, this area has not been adequately investigated in Malawi. The aim of the study was to investigate stress and its coping strategies among nursing students in Malawi.
This was a quantitative study which used a descriptive cross-sectional design that included 102 students in years 2, 3 and 4. Data were collected using the adapted standard tools (Perceived Stress Scale and Adaptive Version of the Nurse Stress Scale) to comprehensively measure levels of stress categorised as clinical, academic and external. The brief Cope was used to measure common coping strategies. Independent samples test and ANOVA were run at 5% level of significance to analyze the data.
Moderate levels of stress were perceived by this sample. Academic category contributed to more stress than clinical and external sources. Lecturers, clinical teachers and nursing staff were the major contributors of stress among students. Similarly, high levels of stress were found among year 2 and self-sponsored students. In terms of coping strategies, active coping and planning were the common coping strategies. However, substance use was also recorded as a coping strategy.
The study revealed that although nursing students face various challenges in under-resourced environments, teachers and clinical staff highly contribute towards stress. It was then established that stress among nursing students' can be contained by initiating stress reduction interventions. There is also need to further investigate the extent of substance use as it suggests that some students have not been able to cope with current stress levels hence resorting to use of substances.
全球范围内对护理专业学生的压力进行了广泛研究，有证据表明护理课程压力较大。来自资源有限环境（如马拉维）的学生往往发现融入护理专业困难且压力过大。然而，在马拉维，这一领域尚未得到充分研究。本研究的目的是调查马拉维护理专业学生的压力及其应对策略。
这是一项定量研究，采用描述性横断面设计，纳入了102名二、三、四年级的学生。使用经过改编的标准工具（感知压力量表和护士压力量表的适应性版本）收集数据，以全面测量分为临床、学业和外部压力的水平。简短应对量表用于测量常见的应对策略。采用独立样本t检验和方差分析，在5%的显著性水平下分析数据。
该样本感知到中等程度的压力。学业压力类别比临床和外部压力源导致的压力更大。讲师、临床教师和护理人员是学生压力的主要来源。同样，二年级学生和自费学生的压力水平较高。在应对策略方面，积极应对和计划是常见的应对策略。然而，物质使用也被记录为一种应对策略。
研究表明，尽管护理专业学生在资源匮乏的环境中面临各种挑战，但教师和临床工作人员对压力的影响很大。由此确定，可以通过启动减压干预措施来控制护理专业学生的压力。还需要进一步调查物质使用的程度，因为这表明一些学生无法应对当前的压力水平，因此诉诸于使用物质。
