STRESS LEVEL OF NURSING STUDENTS AT THE CLINICAL PRACTICUM IN THE UNIVERSITY OF AGUASCALIENTES (MEXICO)

Griselda-Paulina De-Lira-Padilla¹Karen-Alondra Vallín-López¹Violeta Compeán-Padilla¹Francisco-Javier Gago-Valiente^2,3*Emilia Isabel Martins Da Costa^4,5María-de-los-Ángeles Merino-Godoy²

• ¹Department of Nursing, Health Science Centre; Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes, Mexico
• ²Departamento de Enfermería, Facultad de Enfermería, Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain
• ³COIDESO - Research Center in Contemporary Thought and Innovation for Social Development, Huelva, Spain
• ⁴Nursing Department, Health School, University of Algarve, Portugal, Algarve, Portugal
• ⁵The Health Sciences Research Unit, Coimbra Nursing School, Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

Coping with stress is a process that involves a particular relationship between the individual and his/her environment. Nursing students are exposed to stressful situations during their practical training, due to the responsibilities they take, which increase as they pass the semesters. The aim of this study was to identify the stress level in the clinical practicum of nursing students ofat the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes (UAA) (Mexico) in each semester, taking into account a series of sociodemographic variables. This study employs a quantitative, correlational, and comparative design with a non-experimental, cross-sectional approachThis is a quantitative, correlational, non-experimental, cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 190 nursing students belonging to different semesters of the clinical practicum of the UAA. The KEZKAK instrument was used to gather the datadata. Moderate to high stress levels were reported by 70.2% of the participants, indicating a considerable prevalence of stress among the sample. Most of the students presented a moderate stress Con formato: Español (España), Superíndice Con formato: Español (España) Código de campo cambiado Código de campo cambiado Código de campo cambiado Código de campo cambiado Código de campo cambiado Código de campo cambiado Código de campo cambiado Código de campo cambiadolevel. With regard to the association of stress levellevels with each semester, it was observed that the seventh semester obtained the highest percentage of stress, with statistically significant differences (p < 0.001). Female students also reported higher stress levels than male students, although this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.428)The women showed higher stress levels than the men. Nursing students in the clinical practicum have moderate stress levels. The clinical practicum represents a transmission of knowledge that will help students to become professionals. Therefore, in order to fulfil their main goal of providing care to others, nursing students must take care of their own health.