Aim: Nursing students face both physical and psychosocial risks such as job stress at work during the training period. The aim of the study was to determine the academic and clinical stress, and the ways first-year nursing students cope in their first clinical practice. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used. This study was carried out in the nursing department of Giresun University in Giresun, Turkey. The sampling consisted of 109 nursing students who agreed to participate in this study in the 2014–2015 academic spring term. A Personal Information Form, Ways of Coping Inventory (WCI) and Nursing Education Stress Scale (NESS) were used for gathering data. Results: Students generally had moderate levels of academic and clinical stress. Among the academic stressors, the highest frequencies were given to the preparing for the exam (67.9%). Among the clinical stressors, the highest frequencies were given to being criticized by teachers in clinical environments (56.0%), followed by encountering a dying patient (52.3%) and the fear of making practice errors (51.4%). While students mostly used self-confident and optimistic approaches, the social support seeking approach was employed less. The nursing education stress level varied in students according to gender (p < 0.05). Conclusion: In summary, the academic and clinical practice stress levels of nursing students were moderate in the first clinical practice. Therefore, it is suggested that a mentoring programme should be used to manage and regulate their academic and clinical practice stress level and to increase their positive coping strategies in nursing schools.

Giresun University Faculty of Health Sciences Department of Psychiatric Nursing Giresun Turkey

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