Author: Dipanwita Sarkar (Assistant professor, NSMS NURSING INSTITUTE)
Published On: 31-08-2024 | 3 min Read

Stress is an inevitable part of our fast‑paced life. Its ubiquitous presence in the nursing profession is well‑documented. The nurses form the backbone of our nation’s health‑care delivery system. Demanding situations intrinsic to the job often expose these professionals to a higher magnitude of stress. The American Nursing Association under their “Healthy Nurse Healthy Nation” initiative had rightly mentioned ‑ “A healthier nurse means healthier patients.”

Dealing with Stress Like professional nurses, student nurses also face stress in various forms and extent. Pressures of acquiring clinical competencies, taking care of patients, complex clinical environment, lack of professional knowledge and skill, assignments/workloads, the fear of making a mistake, peers and daily life have been potential stressors in nursing education. Effect of stress: Persistent exposure to stress may not only affect the cognition but also can impede the academic performance and may result in the development of certain non-communicable diseases including mental illnesses, namely, depression or anxiety, changes in health and leads to students withdrawal from the program and can ultimately affect the quality of patient care. Although certain research has reported that often some amount of stress is beneficial as it acts as a powerful motivator for learning but chronic exposure to stress and failure to implement positive coping effectively may have an adverse effect on health, well‑being and scholastic performance. Coping strategies commonly adopted by nursing students: Nursing students are not able to avoid these stressors, so it is necessary for students to cope with them. The individual's ability to coping with stress is more important than the stress itself, suitable coping methods reduce stress-induced injuries.  Most utilized coping strategies are, 1. Active Confrontation with Stress- Actively confront the stressful situation and try to deal with the situation by developing professional competency, problem‑solving behaviours, correcting a wrong intervention and facing stressful situations purposefully. 2. Mastering the mind and body- To cope with stress alongside the use of mental activities such as; deviation and stop thinking, realism, and positive thinking and performing favourite activities. Techniques to decrease the physiological symptoms are, releasing emotions by talking to others about stressful events, deep breathing, drinking water or resting and praying to God. 3. Avoidance-. Avoiding stressful situations is the most commonly used strategy. When the stressful situation is outside the control, sometimes people give up to prevent stress. 4. Staying optimistic- Such as having confidence in overcoming difficulties, to cry, to feel moody, sad and helpless. 5. Transference- Activities such as relaxing via movie- music, shower, meditation, having big meal and taking a long sleep. Helpful ways to manage stress levels: The effectiveness of coping with stress depends on the type of stressor, the particular individual, and the circumstances. • Emotion-focused Coping- This type of stress management attempts to reduce negative emotional responses associated with stress, such as embarrassment, fear, anxiety, depression, excitement and frustration. Techniques include: Distraction (e.g. keeping yourself busy), emotional disclosure (expressing strong emotions by talking or writing), praying for guidance and strength, meditation, eating more (comfort food), journaling (e.g. writing a gratitude diary) and suppressing (stopping/inhibition of) negative thoughts or emotions. • Problem-focused Coping- Problem-focused coping targets the causes of stress in practical ways which tackles the problem or stressful situation that is causing stress, consequently directly reducing the stress. Problem focused strategies aim to remove or reduce the cause of the stressor, including: Problem-solving, time-management and obtaining instrumental social support.