Increasing student success through in-class resilience education

Student performance can be affected by internal and external stressors, so we explored the effects of an experiential psychiatric/mental health nursing class designed to present methods of stress reduction. Mixed methods to assess the effects of experiential learning about self-care in a baccalaureate psychiatric nursing class were used with 113 nursing students. Students were exposed in class each week to one of 6 techniques: deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, mindfulness & exercise, aromatherapy, guided imagery, and yoga. Students used the method at home and journaled about the experience weekly. Journals and free-text responses from a post-intervention assessment were examined with qualitative content analysis. The Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Ten-Item Personality Inventory, and the Skovholt Practitioner Professional Resiliency and Self-Care inventory were used. Moderate to strong negative correlations between emotional stability (Ten-Item) and anxiety scores (Beck) was seen. Themes included physical/emotional effects of stress, lack of control during nursing school, and fears about communicating with psychiatric patients. Preferred coping methods were easy to perform, portable, and low cost; students used them to alleviate anxiety and promote relaxation before sleep. Family/friend support and self-care promoted professional vitality. Lack of time for self-care, sleep problems, and financial problems were negatives for students.