The clinical learning environment has been and willcontinue to be a large part of nursing education. As the advancesin health care and technology continue to grow, theclinical setting will become progressively more stressful.In addition, the characteristics of today’s students differdramatically. Currently, undergraduate nursing classesinclude more nontraditional students with diverse backgrounds.Nontraditional students are adults entering thecollege setting with work and life experiences frequentlyunrelated to the new career they have chosen. Nontraditionalstudents generally balance work, home, and schoolresponsibilities. These multiple responsibilities can generatestress and anxiety, making achievement in undergraduatenursing programs even more difficult (Stephens,1992).According to Hughes (2005), “Stress contributes to anxiety,which can in turn interfere with students’ academicperformance by leading to the development of poor copingskills” (p. 22). Beddoe and Murphy (2004) stated, “Highstress and anxiety impede concentration, memory, andproblem-solving ability, which in turn,adversely affect academic performanceand learning” (p. 305). It is significantfor clinical nursing faculty to be mindfulof the anxiety students encounterin the clinical learning environment;however, it is even more crucial forfaculty to observe and monitor the effectsof anxiety on students’ ability toperform in a satisfactory and safe manner.Anxiety is a normal occurrence formost undergraduate nursing studentsduring clinical training; however, facultymust intervene when studentsexperience symptoms of anxiety thatbegin to negatively affect clinical performanceand evaluation.Tanaka, Takehara, and Yamauchi(2006) conducted a study of 53 undergraduate studentsenrolled in a computer class to investigate thelink between achievement goals and task performance,as mediated by state anxiety arousal. The study analyzedthree achievement goals: mastery (which helpsstudents focus on the task at hand), performanceapproachConceptual FrameworkThe Neuman Systems Model provides a frameworkfor the significance of the exploration of interventionalstrategies to decrease stress and anxiety among undergraduatenursing students in the clinical learning environment.Fawcett (2000) said, “Neuman’s work focuseson the wellness of the client system in relation to environmentalstressors and reactions to stressors” (p. 195).Stress and stress reactions are central to this model, andthe overall goal is to promote optimal wellness and systemstability by preventing stress or by intervening to providesupport (August-Brady, 2000). This model views nursingas primarily concerned with implementing appropriateactions in stress-related situations or in reactions of clientsto stress (Fawcett, 2000). Implementing strategiesto decrease high levels of stress and anxiety is a meansof providing student support in the clinical learning environment;however, strategies can also be implemented byclinical nursing faculty as a method of prevention.In the Neuman Systems Model, the concepts of theclient-client system, interacting variables, central core,flexible line of defense, normal line of defense, and line ofresistance represent the concept person. Neuman referredto the client system as an individual, family, or group andviewed each with two components—stress and reaction tostress. The client system is composed of interacting variablesfunctioning in a state of wellness or illness. Thesevariables encompass five dimensions: physiologic, psychological,sociocultural, spiritual, and developmental (Fawcett,2000). The central core refers to basic survival factorscommon to an individual, such as normal temperaturerange, genetic structure, response patterns, and strengthsand weaknesses of body organs (Fawcett, 2000). The flexibleline of defense is a mechanism that prevents stressin the client system, keeping the system free from stressreactions. The flexible line of defense protects the normalline of defense, which is the client-client system’s normalor usual wellness state as a result of adjustment to environmentalstressors. The line of resistance is a mechanismthat attempts to stabilize the client-client system and assistsin the return to usual wellness following an environmentalstressor reaction (Fawcett, 2000).The individual perspective of the Neuman SystemsModel applies to undergraduate nursing students experiencingstress and anxiety in the clinical learning environment.The clinical stress students experience invades thenormal line of defense, and when students cannot managestress, the normal line of defense is broken and anxietyresults. During this time, interventional strategies areneeded to decrease anxiety, which will increase resistanceto stressors and strengthen students’ flexible line of defense.According to Fawcett (2000), Neuman’s concept of environmentencompasses all stress factors within the environmentaffecting the client-client system. Stress factorscan be intrapersonal, interpersonal, and extrapersonal.According to Neuman, as cited in Fawcett (2000), stressorsare “tension producing stimuli or forces within theinternal or external environmental boundaries of the client/clientsystem” (p. 203). Intrapersonal stressors occurwithin the client-client system, interpersonal stressorsoccur from the external environment, and extrapersonalstressors occur outside the boundaries of the client-clientsystem and the external environment. The clinical learningenvironment is the setting in which students experienceintrapersonal stressor anxiety. This intrapersonalstressor can produce the interpersonal stressor of performancedifficulties, which can lead to the stress of an unsuccessful
clinical rotation. Clinical evaluation, negative
interactions with nursing staff, and fear of failure are also
some examples of the interpersonal stressors undergraduate
nursing students experience in the clinical learning
environment.
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