The impact of a sense of self-efficacy on the level of stress and the ways of coping with difficult situations in Polish nursing students

• the need for increase faculty awareness of student stress and coping
• the process of teaching should strengthen a sense of self-efficacy
• the reduction of stress in students will allow them to work to their full potential

IntroductionDuring their first practical classes at a clinical ward nursing students face a new environment; they take on new roles which is associated with stress and a need to handle it.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a sense of self-efficacy on the level of stress and the ways of coping by Polish nursing students during the first practical classes at a clinical ward.Material and MethodsThe study included 394 undergraduate subjects studying nursing at two universities in Southern Poland. The study used the method of diagnostic questionnaire and estimation. The research tools included: an original questionnaire, Stress Scale (PSS10), Inventory to measure coping with stress (Mini Cope) and Generalized Self-efficacy Scale (GSES). Data analysis was performed using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 21 for Windows. The verification of differences between variables was performed using χ2 independence test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman rank correlation coefficient. The level of significance was accepted at α = 0.005.ResultsThe level of stress and a sense of self-efficacy in majority of tested nursing students were high. The people with low levels of perceived stress had a significantly higher sense of self-efficacy (rhoSpearman = − 0.196; p = 0.0001). The people with a higher sense of self-efficacy significantly more often used active strategies in stressful situations, such as Active coping (rhoSpearman = 0.284; p < 0.0001), Planning (rhoSpearman = 0.318, p ≤ 0.0001), Positive revaluation (rhoSpearman = 0.228, p < 0.0001), Acceptance (rhoSpearman = 0.188; p = 0.0002), Seeking Emotional Support (rhoSpearman = 0.123; p = 0.0143).ConclusionsA sense of self-efficacy had a significant impact on the level of stress and the ways of coping with difficult situations in nursing students.