Student Stress and Academic Performance: Home Hospital Program

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether nursing students assigned to a home hospital experience less stress and improved academic performance. Students were assigned to a home hospital clinical placement (n = 78) or a control clinical placement (n = 79). Stress was measured using the Student Nurse Stress Index (SNSI) and Spielberger's State Anxiety Inventory. Academic performance included score on the RN CAT, a standardized mock NCLEX-RN(®)-type test; nursing grade point average; and first attempt pass-fail on the NCLEX-RN. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups for age, gender, marital status, ethnicity, or score on the nurse entrance examination. There were significant changes in SNSI over time but not between groups. Academic load and state anxiety showed an interaction of time by group, with the home hospital group showing reductions over time, compared with the control group.