Intervention and Evaluation of a Pre-graduation Stress Management Program for Reducing “Reality Shock” among Nursing Students

Abstract

　The present study examined whether or not an intervention combining nursing technical training and stress management education for pre-graduation nursing students（namely “a pre-graduation stress management education program”）reduced the severity of their “reality shock” responses after graduation. Students in an intervention group were provided with the pre-graduation stress management program for a week. Stress responses and the recognition of stressors and social support（reality shock response）were investigated before the students started working and three months after they started working. A control group included students with the same educational background who did not receive the program.

　The results indicated that stress response levels after three-month working （reality shock） among students in the intervention group were significantly lower than those among the control group. In particular, symptoms of “anxiety and insomnia” and “social dysfunction” were reduced （p<0.05）. Significant differences were also observed in terms of the recognition of stressors and social support. These findings suggest that the implementation of the pre-graduation stress management program allowed students to learn how to predict and manage stressors, and the nursing technical training reduced the reality shock response after three-month working.