Introduction: Nursing students face many pressures during the undergraduate study. Resilience building is recognized as a valuable coping strategy for nursing students to effectively manage stress in their studies and daily lives. The aim of this study is to understand how nursing students perceive and experience the struggles or stresses during their undergraduate studies and to identify factors that help them build resilience.
Methods: A qualitative design utilizing one-to-one interview was adopted. A judgment sampling method was employed to select interviewees. Fourteen year-2 to year-4 undergraduate nursing students from one of public universities in Macao participated in the study. Data was collected from March to April 2022. The thematic analysis method was used to perform the data analysis and identify emergent themes.
Results: Students reported that the main stressors they encountered during the undergraduate stage were academic performance and relationships. Three themes emerged from the data analysis: (1) challenges from academics; (2) challenges from relationships;(3) building resilience over time. Eight sub-themes were identified: unsatisfactory academic performance, language issues, uncertainty, loneliness as a freshman, exclusion, external support, and positive coping strategies.
Conclusion: Macao nursing students experienced various stresses during the undergraduate stage; besides academic performance, relationship with others was the second top stressor. Though, the students can gradually build resilience, it is necessary to offer the special training to undergraduate nursing students. for positive coping and resilience-building strategies.

Authors:
Xin Wang, Macao Polytechnic University, China
Ming Liu, Macao Polytechnic University, China

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Wang Xin is an associate professor and master's supervisor at the Macau Polytechnic University. Her main research areas include perinatal nursing, nursing psychology, and nursing education. She has published 26 academic papers.

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