Understanding nursing students' stress: a proposed framework.

A paucity of comprehensive research, as well as inconsistent application of theories/conceptual frameworks, have resulted in a limited knowledge of stress in nursing students. The purpose of this paper is to establish a framework for understanding the stress/coping/adaptation process in the nursing student population. To this end, Pollock's Adaptation Nursing Model (Pollock 1984) is discussed and subsequently recommended as a possible alternative. Utilization of this framework as an organizing construct for the paper facilitates a comprehensive review of recent literature related to stress in undergraduate nursing students. In addition, it is proposed that Pollock's model can provide nurse educators, practitioners, administrators and researchers with a framework for understanding nursing students' stress.

Serum ferritin and heart disease: the effect of moderate exercise on stored iron levels in postmenopausal women.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of a moderate exercise regimen on stored iron as measured by serum ferritin in previously sedentary postmenopausal women. DESIGN: Randomized assignment to one of three groups: a five day/week walking group (five-day group, n = 27); a three day/week walking group (three-day group, n = 27) or a sedentary group (control group, n = 25). SETTING: Community-based intervention. PARTICIPANTS: Women who were postmenopausal, over 50 years old, sedentary, not on hormone replacement therapy, nonsmokers, physically capable of exercising, without clinical signs of cardiovascular, pulmonary or metabolic disease, and not on medication that would affect iron metabolism. In addition, they had neither donated blood nor been transfused within the previous 12 months. All participants were screened volunteers who had responded to media advertisements. Seventy-nine participants met these criteria. Results are reported for 56 subjects (five-day group, n = 17; three-day group, n = 19; control group, n = 20) who completed the study. Their mean age was 61.3 +/- 5.8 years. INTERVENTION: The five-day group and the three-day group walked an average of 279 +/- 20 and 171 +/- 7 mins/week, respectively. Participants were counselled not to change their dietary intake. MAIN RESULTS: Following 24 weeks of walking, mean serum ferritin decreased significantly in the five-day group (P < 0.03), but not in the three-day group (P < 0.09) compared with controls. CONCLUSIONS: The extent of physical activity required to elicit a decrease in stored iron in postmenopausal women was determined. This may be clinically significant because stored iron increases significantly following menopause and excess stored iron have been cited as risk factors for coronary artery disease.

Stress in critical care nurses: actual and perceived.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the stressful work experiences and the perception of stress in female critical care nurses, and to explore possible relationships between these variables. DESIGN: A descriptive, correlational study. SETTING: Two Canadian, university-affiliated, tertiary care hospitals. SUBJECTS: A convenience sample of 96 female nurses, with at least 1 year of critical care experience, currently working in adult intensive care units. INSTRUMENTS: Subjects were administered a demographic instrument, the Critical Care Nursing Stress Scale, and the Perceived Stress Scale. RESULTS: Ranking the stressful work situations revealed that patient care-related stressors ranked the highest overall. Although lack of control appeared to be a common element among those situations ranked as the most stressful, there was considerable diversity in the stressor rankings between the individual units. There were significant correlations between perceived life stress and the perceived severity of work stressors (r = 0.296, p < 0.005), as well as between actual (frequency) and perceived (intensity) stressful work events (r = 0.50, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides valuable insight into the actual and perceived stressful experiences of critical care nurses, thus contributing to the ongoing effort to reduce burnout in this population. The findings also establish a foundation for further nursing stress research in the context of the Adaptation Nursing Model.