Implications of Stress and Study Habits on Academic Outcome of Undergraduate Nursing Students in Selected Universities in South-West, Nigeria

Introduction: Stress is a physical and emotional reaction that individuals exhibit as a result of the threat from demanding circumstance(s). Excessive exposure to stress may result in mental and physical problems which may diminish a student's sense of worth and might affect his or her academic outcome. This high level of stress has been widely reported among undergraduate nursing students throughout their academic program.

Aims: This study determined the implications of stress and study habit on the academic outcome of undergraduate nursing students.

Study Design: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used for this study.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Nursing, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Osogbo Osun State and Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo Ogun State between April, 2018 and May, 2018.

Methodology: A convenient sampling technique was used to select 156 participants from a target population of 762 undergraduate students (200 – 500 Level) in the selected institutions. Data were obtained using a self-developed questionnaire which consists of three sections that address the objectives of this study. Hypotheses were tested at 5% level of significance.

Results: Findings from the study show that 20.1% of the respondents usually experience tiredness when they are about to study, 22% reported using stimulants to help them read for a longer period. Furthermore, 42.0% of the student engaged in personal studies and 41.4% used group discussions. 23.7% of the students claimed that proper preparation for tests and examinations improved their academic outcome. Overall, 57.7% of the respondents go through moderate level of stress while 9.6% go through high level stress. The findings from the study show that there is no significant association between studying habits and academic outcome of the undergraduate nursing students (p. Value > 0.005).

Conclusion: Nursing students (who are the future nurses), face considerable levels of physical, psychological and mental stress during the course of their training, which in turn affects their academic performance. There is also no significant association between studying habits and academic outcome of the undergraduate nursing students (p. Value > 0.005). It is therefore important to identify stressors among such students and equip them with and/or provide appropriate coping mechanisms that can help the students adjust to stressful situations, and in turn emerge as excellent health care professionals.