The impact of nursing culture on stress, coping strategies and health outcomes of student nurses : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

Abstract

To examine the effect of acculturation on the stress, coping strategies, and health outcomes of student nurses, a questionnaire was completed by 192 student nurses. A new instrument, the Student Nurse Acculturation Measure (SNAM), was developed to measure degree of acculturation, while established instruments were used to measure the remaining constructs. Results indicated that demands and degree of acculturation increased for student nurses as training progressed. Greater acculturation was associated with increased use of avoidance coping strategies. Increased demands and increased avoidance coping strategies were associated with higher levels of psychological and physical distress, however these variables did not interact to affect distress levels. Nicotine dependency also increased for students and, although this increase was associated with year of study, it was not associated with any of the remaining variables.