PRESENCE OF ANXIETY IN FIRST-YEAR ASSOCIATE DEGREE NURSING STUDENTS AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A STRESS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM (NURSING EDUCATION).
Contributors: University Of Tennessee.
Published: 1992
Number of pages: 137
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Psychology, General.; Health Sciences, Education.; Education, Educational Psychology.
Description: This study was undertaken to document and describe the presence of anxiety in a class of 122 associate degree nursing students and determine the effects of a stress management program on anxiety reduction, attrition, and course grade in the first semester of a nursing program.

The State Trait Anxiety Inventory, administered as a pre- and posttest, was used as the measure of anxiety. Demographic variables included: age, NLN Preadmission Test scores, semester credit hours, employment hours, gender, race, marital status, and number of children.

The 20 students in the experimental group received an eight week stress management/anxiety reduction program, modeled after stress inoculation training described by Meichenbaum (1985). Also included were test taking, time management, and study skills; relaxation techniques; and open discussion.

The overall results of the study did not support the relationship between anxiety, an anxiety reduction strategy, and attrition. In describing the anxiety level of the nursing class, mean state and trait anxiety of female nursing students was statistically different from females in the normative STAI population. Male nursing students showed a significant difference in trait anxiety. The NLN Preadmission Test was the only demographic variable to demonstrate a significant relationship with anxiety level.

The results of independent t-tests showed that the stress management program did not result in a significant difference in anxiety or final nursing course grade. The attrition rate for students in the experimental group was significantly different from the control group. There was no significant difference between course completers and noncompleters in anxiety level or any of the demographic variables.

It was concluded, therefore, that anxiety did not prove to be a significant variable. Reduction in anxiety was not evident, nor did a significant difference in anxiety level occur as a result of the stress management program. Therefore, students at risk of noncompletion could not be identified based on anxiety level. It was further concluded that an intervention strategy could possibly make a difference in the eventual success of students in the first nursing course. The resulting difference in attrition, however, could not be attributed to a significant reduction in anxiety.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-07, Section: B, page: 3404.

Thesis (ED.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, 1992.

School code: 0226.