Psychometric evaluation of the Clinical Stress Questionnaire (CSQ)

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Psychology
• Healthcare Professional Development

Background:

• Clinical experiences are crucial for nursing education.
• Stress appraisal is a key factor in student adaptation and learning.
• Existing tools may not fully capture nursing students' unique clinical stress perceptions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Clinical Stress Questionnaire (CSQ).
• To assess nursing students' appraisal of clinical stress as threatening or challenging.
• To understand the nuances of stress experienced during initial clinical rotations.

Main Methods:

• Development of a 20-item Likert scale and open-ended questions for the CSQ.
• Administration to 246 female nursing students post-first clinical day.
• Statistical analysis including alpha coefficients for reliability and factor analysis for construct validity.
• Paired T-test to compare challenge and threat scores.

Main Results:

• The CSQ demonstrated good reliability with alpha coefficients of .85 (challenge) and .84 (threat).
• Factor analysis supported the construct validity of the questionnaire.
• Nursing students reported significantly higher challenge than threat during clinical experiences.
• Qualitative comments revealed a focus on negative aspects of stress and threat.

Conclusions:

• The CSQ is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring nursing students' stress appraisal in clinical settings.
• While students generally appraise stress as challenging, negative perceptions of threat warrant attention.
• Further research should explore interventions to mitigate negative stress appraisals in nursing students.