eISSN: 2300-6722
ISSN: 1899-1874
Medical Studies/Studia Medyczne
Current issue Archive Manuscripts accepted About the journal Supplements Editorial board Abstracting and indexing Subscription Contact Instructions for authors Publication charge Ethical standards and procedures
Editorial System
Submit your Manuscript
4/2019
vol. 35
 
Share:
Share:
abstract:
Original paper

Stress and coping strategies of medical students during their first clinical practice – a pilot study

Iwona Bodys-Cupak
1
,
Aneta Grochowska
2
,
Joanna Zalewska-Puchała
1
,
Anna Majda
1

  1. Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
  2. Faculty of Health Care, Department of Nursing, The State Higher Vocational School, Tarnow, Poland
Medical Studies/Studia Medyczne 2019; 35 (4): 294–303
Online publish date: 2019/12/30
View full text Get citation
 
PlumX metrics:
Introduction
The medical profession is acknowledged as one of the most stressful. The time devoted to acquire knowledge and practical skills is a source of stress for students, but also an opportunity to learn how to deal with it.

Aim of the research
To assess how medical students deal with stress during their first clinical practice.

Material and methods
The study was conducted in a group of 526 students of: nursing, physiotherapy, medical rescue, and obstetrics at a university. The research tools included: an original questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Stress Management Inventory. The dependence between variables was established using the Spearman’s rank correlation. A significance level of α = 0.05 was assumed in the tests.

Results
Almost half of the students experienced high levels of stress, and more than half of them manifested high levels of self-efficacy. The participants dealt with difficult situations mainly by active coping, planning, and seeking instrumental support. The paramedics and the midwives more often turned to active coping than did the physiotherapists. Younger people were more inclined to choose strategies associated with seeking support (rho = –0.134, p = 0.001). It was shown that strategies of managing difficult situations based on helplessness were more often followed by older people (rho = 0.126, p = 0.002). The greater sense of self-efficacy in the participants, the more often they chose active stress coping strategies.

Conclusions
Active stress management strategies should be developed in students also to strengthen their sense of self-efficacy.

keywords:

stress, coping strategies, student, sense of self-efficacy

Quick links
© 2024 Termedia Sp. z o.o.
Developed by Bentus.