Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effects of nursing students’ educational stresses on self-confidence and anxiety in clinical decision making.

Method: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with all third-, and fourth-year nursing students studying in the faculty of nursing at a university. The data was collected using “Socio-demographic Data Collection Form”, “Nursing Education Stress Scale” and “Nursing Anxiety and Self-confidence with Clinical Decision Making (NASC-CDM) Scale”. A total of 362 students who participated in the study voluntarily and filled the scales completely consisted the sampling. The data of the study were collected by face to face interview method with the students. The data were evaluated by using the SPSS 15.0 statistical program.

Result: Students who agreed to participate in the study were in the third (71.9%) and 4th grade (28.1%). Most (78.5%) of them were female students, 87.1% of them were in the middle-income level, and 3.0% of the students were working. The academic stress of nursing students alone explained 13.1% of their anxiety level in clinical decision making. Increased clinical stress increased the level of anxiety in clinical decision making by 0.303 times. The academic stress of nursing students explained 2.3% of the self-confidence level in clinical decision making. Increased academic stress decreased the level of self-confidence in clinical decision making by 0.151 times. The clinical practice stresses of nursing students did not significantly affect the level of self-confidence in clinical decision making.

Conclusions: The level of education and practice stress of nursing students affect self-confidence and anxiety in clinical decision making.