A Call to Intervene: Suicide Risk Among Nursing Students

Researchers have found that nursing students are experiencing stress and mental health issues at higher rates than the general college student population. Emphasis should be placed on assessing nursing student stress, with increased efforts toward early detection of depression, before these students experience academic failure. Nurse educators must be the first line in addressing students' mental health problems, being the “eyes and ears” in the classroom as they advocate for students. Faculty have a responsibility to be aware of warning signs of and risk factors for suicide in nursing students, and how to locate resources for at-risk students. Suicide is a preventable public health concern, and nurse educators can make a difference.

A Critical Realist Review of Pre-Registration Nursing Student Stress

This Critical Realist review recognises the transitional challenge faced by all undergraduates on their path to becoming qualified practitioners but draws attention to the particularly high levels of student stress associated with the experience of learners who enrol on pre-registration nursing programmes. It also examines international evidence of factors which contribute to such stress. Professional opinion, reports, qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods research is thematically presented to indicate the wide range of educational, social, environmental, intrapersonal and interpersonal variables that contribute to pre-registration nursing student stress. Congruent with the principles of Critical Realism, the paper also identifies several emerging fields associated with student nurse stressors that are worthy of further investigation due to an apparent paucity of published work. Finally, the authors briefly highlight their own research activity currently underway to extend the body of knowledge in these areas and in so doing seek to help address student retention issues within nursing.

The Relationship Between Second Language Anxiety and International Nursing Students Stress

We examined the relationship between second language anxiety and international nursing student stress after taking into account the demographic, cognitive, and acculturative factors. International nursing students (N=152) completed an online questionnaire battery. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that spoken second language anxiety and the acculturative factors of marginalization and separation were significantly related to academic-related and placement-related stress in international nursing students. The results suggest that international nursing students, along with the pressures of their course, encounter second language anxiety particularly with reference to its spoken aspect. Subsequently, interventions aimed at building resilience in international nursing students should include coping and management of second language issues.