ABSTRACT
The purpose of the study was to investigate the perceived effect of stress on the academic performance of students in department of Nursing Science, University of Benin, Benin City. Four research questions were raised to guide the study while two research hypotheses were put forth. A cross-sectional research design was adopted in this study and the study’s population comprised of 230 nursing students in 400 and 500 levels of University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State. The censor sampling technique was used to sample the entire 230 nursing students in 400 and 500 levels. A self-structured questionnaire was used to get data from the respondents, which was validated by the researcher’s supervisor. The instrument yielded reliability scores of 0.71, 0.73, 0.77 and 0.76 for sections B, C, D, and E subscales respectively. Descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution, percentage, mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the data obtained while t-test statistics and analysis of variance (ANOVA) statistics were used to test the two stated hypotheses of the study. Results of the study revealed that the level of stress is quite high among nursing students. Seven common causes of stress were identified including; financial constraints, poor sleep habits, unrealistic expectations, troubles with boyfriend or girlfriend (that is, relationship issues), many hours of studies, overscheduling from extracurricular activities, and examinations. The study also found that the perceived effects of stress among students to include; poor grades, absenteeism, reduced academic morale, failure in completing assignment on time, distraction of attention during lectures, and poor academic life. Stress coping strategies such as having a positive outlook towards life, participating in physical activities like exercise, stop procrastinating, develop a sleep routine, communicating with friends and lecturers, and creating a timetable (to-do list) for all activities were commonly used by the respondents. The study concluded that stress coping strategies should be employed by nursing students whenever they experience stress. The study further recommended that students should be exposed to the effect of stress and how they can best cope with it. Also, more student counsellors should be recruited by University administrators to help students cope with stress levels.
