Stress management strategies and quality of life in undergraduate nursing and midwifery students in Poland: A pilot study

Abstract

Abstract Aim To establish the level of the quality of life (QOL) and its determinants in nursing and midwifery students, evaluate stress management strategies and find the correlation between the frequency of specific strategies and the QOL. Design Diagnostic survey. Methods The study was conducted in June 2019. Two hundred thirty‐four undergraduate students were examined with the use of Mini‐Cope Inventory of Stress Management Measurement (Mini‐Cope) and World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument Brief Form. Results The average QOL of the respondents was found as good (4.06 ± 0.73). The students graded their QOL in the social relationship domain the highest (15.98 ± 2.97) and the lowest in the physical health domain (14.38 ± 2.75). The QOL was influenced by material status and the source of income. In stressful situations, the respondents most commonly used Active Coping (2.09 ± 0.57) and Seeking Emotional Support (2.09 ± 0.77) strategies. The latter correlated most positively with the QOL in social relationship (r = .514, p < .001) and environmental (r = .387, p < .001) domains.

Keywords

• midwifery
• nursing
• quality of life
• students