A national study: stress perception by nurse anesthesia students

Anesthesia education is highly stressful. Some stress motivates students, but excess stress leads to failure and unhappiness. While stress cannot be eradicated from the practice of anesthesia, it can be managed, especially when its signs are recognized early. The purposes of this study were to determine the perception of students' stress in nurse anesthesia programs and to examine the presence and use of stress management programs and open-door policies existing in nurse anesthesia schools. An author-developed questionnaire assessed the stress management programs and open-door policies of nurse anesthesia programs, Life Event Scale scores of the students, school-related stressors, and student coping strategies. The study, which surveyed all 2,200 of the nation's nurse anesthesia students, with a 68.4% response rate, showed that students experience a significant level of stress. It also demonstrated a need for schools to develop stress management programs.