The Relationship Between Nursing Students’ Education Stress and Life Skills

Aim: Nursing students experience stress during education due to both intensive theoretical knowledge and clinical practices. Students under intense stress may face difficulty in developing life skills. This study aimed to determine the relationship between the stress experienced by nursing students during their education and life skills.Material and Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with 343 nursing students. The data were collected using a Student Information Form, the Nursing Education Stress Scale, and the Life Skills Scale. In data analysis, frequency and percentage distributions, median, Shapiro-Wilk and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, Spearman correlation coefficient, and Robust Regression analysis were applied.Results: A statistically significant positive correlation existed between the nursing education stress and interpersonal communication skills of students (r = 0.148; p = 0.006). According to the regression analysis results, female students (p<0.001) had more educational stress, while those who willingly chose the department had less educational stress (p=0.032). Final year students (p=0.005) and those who preferred the department willingly (p=0.011) had higher life skills.Conclusion: With an increase in their interpersonal communication skills, nursing students more actively engage in the educational process, encounter more complex problems, and experience an increase in stress levels. Therefore, the nursing education curriculum should be structured using innovative learning approaches focusing on students, aiming to enhance their life skills and minimize stress during the educational journey.