Shaping the research experiences of graduate students using action research

Perceived academic-related sources of stress among graduate nursing students in a Jamaican University

BACKGROUND

Graduate education is essential for the improvement of professions by facilitating advancements in career paths, personal growth and enhancing a country's economy. Graduate students frequently view graduate education as moderate to very stressful and this can have a negative impact on their lives. Stress can result in impaired coping, poor academic performance and reduction in cognitive functioning, resulting in the antithesis of academic success.

OBJECTIVE

A qualitative study was done to gain insight into the perception and sources of academic- related stress among graduate nursing students at an urban school of nursing in Jamaica.

DESIGN

A purposive sample of Master of Science in Nursing students in their penultimate semester for the academic year 2017/ 2018 were invited to participate in the study.

METHODS

Nine students participated and each was assigned a selected pseudonym. Data were collected using one- to-one semi-structured interviews and interviews were transcribed verbatim. Thematic content analysis was used to determine emerging themes and coding was done manually.

RESULTS

The themes that emerged were: (1) Workload (2) Research (3) Prioritization (4) Lack of support (5) Lack of feedback (6) Balancing school life (7) Very stressful (8) Expectations of lecturers. Participants perceived that graduate education was very stressful to overwhelming. Academic-related stress was multi-factorial and predominantly due to the rigid curriculum structure. Contributing factors included increased workload; time constraints; the research course itself; lack of support and timely response from research supervisors and delayed responses from the Ethics Committee.

CONCLUSION

It is very important for educators and curriculum developers to implement innovative strategies that are essential in providing an environment that will facilitate learning and to mitigate stress faced by graduate students.

The Bachelor's thesis in nursing: Characteristics and students' approach and satisfaction

AIM

The aim of the study was to describe the characteristics of the Bachelor's thesis of fourth-year nursing students at a Spanish public university, the criteria that students used to choose a topic and students' degree of satisfaction after completing the Bachelor's thesis.

DESIGN

Quantitative study.

METHODS

We examined 420 Bachelor's theses carried out from 2013 to 2018 and conducted an online survey among fourth-year students in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years (81 completed questionnaires).

RESULTS

The Bachelor's thesis took the form of a research proposal. The most frequent proposal type was a qualitative hospital-based study whose objective was to understand the experiences of adult or adolescent patients, close family members, or nurses. Students chose topics for personal reasons. Most participants reported feeling satisfied with the knowledge and skills acquired.

CONCLUSIONS

Students completing a Bachelor's thesis in the form of a research proposal have the potential to transfer their research skills to their nursing practice.

Academic-related stress among graduate students in nursing in a Jamaican school of nursing

Graduate students perceive their education as highly stressful, have consistently rated their stress levels as above average and have consistently scored above average on stress scales. The consequences of stress include negative academic outcomes, reduction in cognitive ability, impaired coping and incompletion of graduate studies. Stress is also associated with physical and psychological symptoms such as altered appetite, sleep pattern disturbances and headache. A descriptive correlational design was used to determine the perceived levels and sources of academic-related stress among students enrolled in a Master of Science in Nursing (MScN) degree programme at school of nursing in urban section of Jamaica. The Perceived Stress Scale-14 and Stress Survey were used to collect data from the 81 students enrolled in full or part time study in the MScN programme. Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted using SPSS version 20. The majority (50.9%) were moderately stressed while 22.8% and 24.6% had high and low levels of stress respectively. Stress associated with the preparation for and prospect of final examinations received the highest overall mean stress rating, causing "a lot of stress". Attendances at classes and relationships with lecturers received the lowest mean stress rating. Research was not listed as a stressor.