Stress and coping: first-year Nepalese nursing students in clinical settings

The purpose of this descriptive study was to identify stressful events of first-year Nepalese nursing students in the clinical setting and to determine how they cope with the stressful events. The sample consisted of 104 nursing students who had been in the clinical setting for 6 to 8 weeks. Four stressful events identified were: interpersonal relationships, initial experiences, feeling helpless, and demeaning experiences. The most frequently reported stressful event was interpersonal relationship (50%). Eight categories of coping from students' description were problem-solving, accepting responsibility, seeking social support, self-control, tension reduction, avoidance, wishful thinking and negative feelings. The majority of students utilized the "seeking social support" category of coping.