Stress and Perceived Satisfaction with the University Environment among Nursing Students in Morocco

Stress is one of the most significant psychosocial risks in humans. While stress is a characteristic of an individual's social life, university students are not immune to this risk. Indeed, the interaction between students and their environment promotes the development of stress, especially among students in health professions. The objective of our study is to measure the severity and prevalence of stress among students at Higher Institutes of Nursing and Health Techniques (HINHT) in Morocco, as well as to examine the relationship between the perception of the university environment and stress.

A questionnaire was developed for a sample of 340 students from HINHT to collect the necessary information for this study. Its validity was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha test (0.87).

According to the results, 74.10% of the students experience symptoms of actual stress, with 29.40% having a high level of stress. The study also showed that stress is significantly linked to students' satisfaction levels with the university environment (P = 0.017) and specifically to two components of this environment: "facilities and infrastructure" (P = 0.000) and "relationships with other categories within the university community" (P = 0.003). This link was modeled using logistic regression, connecting the "stress" variable to various aspects of the university environment.

Based on these results, it appears that students in HINHT suffer from stress-related disorders, which necessitate serious and urgent reflection, given that the quality of education and academic outcomes depend on the psychological and mental well-being of today's students, who will be tomorrow's healthcare professionals.