Stressors of Nursing Interns and Their Influencing Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study

OBJECTIVE: It is still unknown whether the stress level and stressors in Chinese nursing interns are influenced by teacher-related factors. This research was carried out for better understanding of the stress in nursing interns and distribution of stressors during their clinical practice and targeted measures to unwind the stress of nursing interns. METHODS: A questionnaire survey, titled Questionnaire on Stressors of Nursing Interns during Clinical Practice, was conducted on nursing interns at a 3A Grade Hospital in Shandong Province. Characteristics of the nursing interns and stressors of nursing interns were collected. A multiple-linear regression model was used to explore the influencing factors of nursing interns' scores. RESULTS: A total of 132 nursing interns were investigated in this study, and the overall stress scores were calculated. The stressors during the internship include the nature and content of the job, role orientation, workload, conflict between study and work, practice preparation, and interpersonal relationships. Gender, education level, instructor encouragement, and parents engaged in the medical industry were adjusted in the multiple-linear regression model as covariates. All of these factors had significant impacts on the scores of stressors (P < 0.05), with the partial regression coefficient values of 13.38, −10.52, −5.02, 3.4, −9.89, −14.77, and −15.83 for factors like female, undergraduates, graduate students, never obtained encouragement from teachers, obtained encouragement from teachers occasionally, obtained encouragement from teachers frequently, and parents engaged in the medical industry, respectively. CONCLUSION: The stressors of nursing interns are mostly work-wise, and teachers' encouragement is an important protective factor for nursing interns to reduce stress. Therefore, clinical instructors should take targeted measures in teaching methods and work arrangements according to the needs of interns.