The present study aimed to obtain an insight into providing necessary instructions for nursing students participating in clinical training, by investigating their stressful feelings and anxiety before and after adult nursing training.
Methods: Of the third-year students receiving adult nursing training from the school of nursing of one university, 84 students (64 females and 20 males) who had provided consent and effective answers participated as subjects in the present study. To assess the subjects’ stressful feelings, we used 17 items of the Kagoshima University version of the CSQ, and 14 items of the Training Stressor Scale. To assess the subjects’ anxiety, the STAI was used.
Results: A comparison of stressful emotions (CSQ score) revealed that, before the training, the score for the feeling of fear was the highest, followed by the scores for the feelings of challenges and harm; however, after the training, only the score for the feeling of fear significantly decreased (p=0.003). A comparison of anxiety (STAI score) revealed that, the score for state anxiety decreased from 61.0±9.22 points before the training to 47.6±12.35 points after the training (p<0.001). No significant difference was
noted in the score for trait anxiety before and after the training. A strongly positive correlation existed
between stressful feelings and state anxiety (rs=0.587, p<0.001). In response to a question asking about the subjects’current feelings,“Being unable to make necessary reports and/or hand over necessary information to their counterpart” was the most common answer (n=17) before the training, and “Tired of having to participate in training” was most commonly reported (n=24) after the training.
Conclusion: Subjects showed high scores for stressful feelings and anxiety due to their nursing practice in various medical settings (e.g., acute-phase, perioperative, and terminal settings) during adult nursing training. The study results suggest that it is important to develop nursing students’ basic knowledge, and provide seminars aimed at improving their skills from before clinical training.