Resilience in first and second semester baccalaureate nursing students

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Psychology
• Student Well-being

Background:

• Nursing education is demanding, potentially impacting student resilience.
• Understanding resilience trajectories in Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students is crucial for academic success and future practice.
• Existing research may not fully capture semester-to-semester changes in resilience among nursing students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess and analyze the resilience levels of first and second semester BSN students.
• To identify significant increases or decreases in overall resilience and specific resilience factors.
• To inform the development of supportive interventions within nursing curricula.

Main Methods:

• The Connor Davidson CD-RISC-25 tool was administered to measure resilience.
• Data were collected from both first and second semester BSN student cohorts.
• Statistical analyses were performed to compare resilience levels between semesters.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant increase in overall resilience was observed from the first to the second semester.
• Several specific factors contributing to resilience demonstrated significant decreases between the two semesters.
• The findings indicate a potential decline in coping mechanisms or protective factors over the academic period.

Conclusions:

• Resilience in BSN students does not automatically improve with progression to the second semester.
• Significant decreases in certain resilience factors highlight potential vulnerabilities during the nursing program.
• A structured resilience training module is recommended to support BSN students' psychological well-being and academic progression.