An Exploration of Second-Year Student Nurse's Perceptions of Stress Towards Substandard Academic Performance at University, Windhoek, Khomas Region, Namibia

Abstract

Joseph Galukeni Kadhila, Fransina Sheelongo

Background: Stress has always been a contributor to student nurses' substandard academic performance due to difficulty dealing with academic tasks. Stress influenced the psychological well-being of undergraduate nursing students.

Methods: This study used the qualitative research method; Qualitative research is research that provides indepth insights and understanding of real-world problems. The steps proposed by George was used for data analysis. Purposive sampling method was used to select participants from a population of 94 second-year degree nursing students. A total number of 15 second-year degree student nurses registered for the academic year 2022 at the Unam main campus were interviewed. An interview guide, an audio recorder, and field notes were used as the data collection intrument during face-to-face interviews.

Results: The study found that second-year degree nursing students at UNAM main campus perceived stress with negative feelings due to its detrimental effects and they further expressed how it affected their academic performance negatively due to demotivation to study when they are stressed. The study also found that students experienced stress from various stressors such as challenges with log books completion and submission, struggle with financial matters, overwhelmed with theory workload, and conflict with the registered nurses at the clinical settings.

Conclusion: The study concluded that there is no specific policy or guidelines to cope with the stress-related factors at the campus under study. The finding of this study shall therefore assist the University of Namibia under study and all stakeholders to work on the identified contributing factors.

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