The relationship between the academic self-efficacy and perceived stressors among nursing students in clinical settings: a cross-sectional study.

backgroundNursing students often face significant challenges in clinical settings, including high levels of stress and anxiety, which can affect their academic performance and professional development. Academic self-efficacy, defined as a student's belief in their ability to achieve academic goals, plays an important role in managing these stressors. However, the relationship between academic self-efficacy and perceived stressors in clinical settings remains underexplored. Understanding this relationship is essential for developing strategies to support nursing students and enhance their clinical learning experiences. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between academic self-efficacy and perceived stressors in nursing students in clinical settings.

methodsThe study design was descriptive and cross-sectional. A total of 284 undergraduate nursing students practicing in surgical clinics at a university in Izmir province were recruited during the 2022-2023 academic year. A personal information form, the Academic Nurse Self-Efficacy Scale (ANSES), and the Nursing Students' Perceptions of Clinical Stressors Scale (NSPCSS) were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman correlation analysis were used to analyse the data.

resultsThe mean age of the students included in the study was 21.02 ± 1.52 years. The mean ANSES total score was 51.50 ± 6.88 out of 14-70 points, and the mean NSPCSS total score was 82.98 ± 15.58 out of 22-110 points. There was no statistically significant relationship between the ANSES and NSPCSS scores (r=-0.02, p = 0.711). It was found that there was a statistically significant positive weak relationship between the ANSES sociability sub-dimension score and the NSPCSS academic performance of the instructor sub-dimension score (r = 0.19, p = 0.001). A significant negative weak relationship (r=-0.16, p = 0.006) was found between the ANSES external emotion management subscale score and the NSPCSS inappropriate situations in the clinical environment subscale score.

conclusionsThis study found that nursing students' perceptions of academic self-efficacy and clinical stressors were high. It is recommended that clinical practice should be emphasised as an important part of nursing education and that comprehensive studies should be conducted to reduce perceived stress in surgical clinics.