Stress and coping strategies among nursing students: an international study

Background: Mounting literature on stress and coping in nursing students are available; however, most of the findings are confined to a single cultural group. Aims: This study was conducted to determine the level of stress, its sources and coping strategies among nursing students from three countries: Greece, the Philippines and Nigeria. Methods: Using a descriptive, comparative research design, 547 nursing students (161 Greek nursing students, 153 Filipino nursing students, 233 Nigerian nursing students) participated in the study from August 2015 to April 2016. Two standardized instruments were used, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Coping Behavior Inventory (CBI). Results: Findings revealed that the degree of stress and the type of stressors and coping styles utilized by nursing students differ according to the country of origin. The year of study predicted overall stress (β = –0.149, p < 0.001) while advanced age predicted overall coping (β = 0.008, p = 0.037) in the nursing students. Conclusions: Strengthening nursing students’ positive coping skills may be helpful for them to effectively deal with various stressors during their educational experiences while maximizing learning. Implementing empirically tested approaches maybe useful to prevent the recurrence of stress and lessen its impact such as stress management counseling, counseling programs, establishing peer and family support systems, and formulating hospital policies that will support nursing students.