Nursing education stress and coping behaviors in Turkish and the United States nursing students: A descriptive study
Abstract
Aim The aim of the present study was to compare nursing education stress and coping behaviors of nursing students in two different countries.Background Nursing students face with stress factors affecting academic performance during nursing education. Coping strategies can help students manage their stress levels.Design This study was performed with a descriptive design at the nursing department of two universities in Turkey and the United States.Methods The sample consisted of 986 students in total (807 students from Turkey and 179 students from the United States). Data were collected by a questionnaire, using the Nursing Education Stress Scale and the Coping Behavior Inventory.Results The mean score of Turkish students on the Nursing Education Stress Scale was (68.34 ± 16.57) significantly higher than the United States students (50.91 ± 15.53) (p < 0.05). The mean scores of the sub-groups regarding avoidance, problem solving and transference behaviors of the Coping Behavior Inventory of the Turkish students were significantly higher than that of the United States students (p < 0.05); whereas the mean score of the optimistic coping behavior sub-group of the scale of the Turkish students' was lower (p < 0.05).Conclusions This study revealed that the nursing students from different countries had different stress levels in nursing education. The most used coping strategy by the nursing students from two countries was avoidance behaviors. Educational programs should be organized to strengthen students' stress coping skills and to use effective coping strategies.
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In Türkiye, systematic and structured efforts to integrate psychological support into nursing curricula remain scarce.
“In Türkiye, however, systematic and structured efforts to integrate psychological support into nursing curricula remain scarce [9].”
From Associations of psychological flexibility, mindfulness, and valued living with psychological distress among nursing students (2025) · cites this paper as [9]
In Türkiye, challenges are intensified by heavy academic workloads, extended clinical placements, high course credits, frequent examinations, large class sizes, financial pressures, and societal expectations on health professionals.
“In Türkiye, these challenges are further intensified by heavy academic workloads, extended clinical placements, a high number of required course credits, frequent examinations, large class sizes, financial pressures, and strong societal expectations placed on health professionals [9, 42].”
From Associations of psychological flexibility, mindfulness, and valued living with psychological distress among nursing students (2025) · cites this paper as [9]
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- Authors
- Ayaz-Alkaya, S., & Simones, J.
- Affiliations
- St. Cloud State University (US)
- Venue
- Nurse Education in Practice
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-02
- Volume
- 59
- Pages
- 103292
- ISSN
- 1471-5953 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4205103922
- Cited by
- 24
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4
- FWCI
- 6.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Nurse Education in Practice (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Student Stress and Coping
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Speech and Hearing › Problem Solving Skills Development
- Keywords
- nursing students, academic stress, coping strategies, cross-cultural comparison, Turkish students, American students, avoidance behavior, problem solving, transference, optimism
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Cross-Sectional Studies, Education, Nursing, Humans, Surveys and Questionnaires, Stress, Psychological, Students, Nursing, Turkey
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