Stress, resilience and psychological well-being in Chinese undergraduate nursing students

•Globally, stress is a well recognized feature of student nurse life.•Psychological well-being is impaired in Chinese undergraduate nursing students, particularly in pre-registration students.•Resilient nursing students are better equipped to deal with stressful events during their education.•Nurse educators should be aware of potential role of resilience training and other forms of effective coping strategies for their students.

BackgroundGlobally, stress is a well-recognized feature of the life of undergraduate nursing students. However, there currently is little evidence to suggest what role resilience plays in this issue.ObjectivesTo examine the relationship between stress and resilience on psychological well-being in a cohort of Chinese undergraduate student nurses.Design/ParticipantsA cross-sectional study was conducted using multivariate logistic regression and descriptive statistical analysis in three Chinese nursing schools. A total of 1538 nursing students participated in the study, completing three validated self-administered questionnaires.ResultsNursing students in their final year reported the highest mean General Health Questionnaire 12 (GHQ-12) scores (Mean 4.50 SD 2.89) and Stress in Nursing Student (SINS CN) scores (Mean 105.11 SD 25.37), Moderate levels of resilience were noted across all four years of nursing training programmes (Mean 121.59 SD 21.49). Resilience scale (RS) scores were negatively correlated with mean total score for stress (r = − 0.236, P < 0.01) and negatively correlated with psychological well-being (r = − 0.411, P < 0.01).ConclusionPsychological well-being appears impaired in Chinese nursing students, particularly final year students, prior to registration. Globally, more attention could be given to the potential role of resilience training and other forms effective coping strategies to deal with the inevitable sources of stress in student nurse training.