Paper
Thursday, 20 July 2006
This presentation is part of : Psychiatric/Mental Health for Children and Adolescents
Assessment of the Nursing Students' Emotional States
João Luís Apóstolo, MD and Manuel Alves Rodrigues, PhD. Health Sciences Research Unit: Nursing Domain, Nursing School Dr. Ângelo da Fonseca, Coimbra, Portugal
Learning Objective #1: Know the emotional states of the students drawn from a Portuguese nursing School.
Learning Objective #2: Understand the implications of the assessment of emotional states, to the follow-up and mentoring strategies of the students throughout the course, considering this study results.
Background: An increase in the number of nursing students who ask for psycho pedagogical help has been observed. They reveal signs and symptoms of negative emotional states. These facts have created the need for a diagnostic study of the emotional state of these students throughout the course.
Objective of the study: To analyse the emotional states of the students drawn from the Nursing School of Coimbra, Portugal;
Method: The Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were administered to 229 nursing students, in the week prior to the students’ final assessment. PANAS and DASS reliability was high, alphas sub-scales ranges 0,79 to 0,90. The scales’ factorial structure was identical to the original versions.
Results: Mean and SD values - Stress: 16,89, 9,49; Anxiety: 9,03; 7,40; Depression 8,59, 7,64; Positive affect: 29,29, 6,83 and Negative affect: 23,59, 7,49.
Stress: 48,91% normal; 11,79% mild, 19,65% moderate; 12,66% severe and 6,99% extremely severe. Anxiety:  48,47% normal; 9,61% mild; 21,83% moderate, 6,55% severe and 13,54% extremely severe. Depression: 62,01% normal; 14,85% mild; 13,97% moderate; 6,55% severe and 2,62% extremely severe.
These results show that there is a significant number of students who manifestate negative emotional states.
Study implications:
These results are being institutionally used in two different ways: 1st, under a preventive perspective as a useful tool in the psycho pedagogical strategies for the follow-up and mentoring process and 2nd as a background for the recently established students psycho pedagogical help office.

See more of Psychiatric/Mental Health for Children and Adolescents
See more of The 17th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice (19-22 July 2006)