Attitude towards stress management among nursing students at international school of nursing and midwifery institute- Maya, Wakiso district: A descriptive cross-sectional study.

Abstract

Introduction: In Uganda, stress management is a critical component of nursing education, as nursing students often face high levels of stress due to academic and clinical demands yet many fail to manage their stress. Therefore, therefore the purpose of this study was to assess attitudes, regarding stress management among nursing students at International nursing and Midwifery institute Maya, Wakiso district.

Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was employed for this study. The Kish Leslie’s method was used and a sample of 80 nursing students was selected using stratified random sampling technique. Quantitative data was collected using a structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed into frequency and percentages and then later presented into tables and figures.

Results: The attitude was positive with 90% of the nursing students considering stress management to be “very important” or “important”. 60% of the participants disagreed that effective stress management can improve academic and clinical performance and 60% feeling “very confident” or “confident” in their ability to manage their stress. 77.5% were willing to participate in stress management programs.

Conclusion: The main barrier to effective stress management was lack of time 50%.  Nursing students were knowledgeable about the definition of stress, common stress management techniques and the causes of stress, their attitude was generally positive with most of them considering stress management very important for nursing students to improve their academic and clinical performance.

Recommendation:  The government should incorporate mandatory courses on stress management and mental health awareness into the nursing curriculum such as through encouraging co-curricular activities in medical training.