A framework for conceptualizing stress in clinical learning

Nursing faculty are becoming increasingly concerned about the amount of stress experienced by nursing students. They will find little to guide them in the nursing literature on coping strategies utilized by nursing students or facilitating more effective coping strategies that are used by nursing students in dealing with stress and their efforts in student's behalf to facilitate more effective coping. Using the Transactional Model to conceptualize nursing students' stress experiences should enable nursing educators to: Appreciate the complexity of students' responses to stress. Identify patterns of students' coping strategies. Develop a better understanding of the importance of timing of intervention to facilitate optimal adaptation to stressful situations. Identify areas which need to be addressed in future research. Further study by nursing educators of nursing students' responses to stress is important because there is a great need to identify patterns of coping and appropriate interventions in order to facilitate effective adaptation in education programs and ultimately the work environment.