Clinical Training Stress Inducing Factors among Intern Nurses in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Improving the quality of clinical training among intern nurses (INs) requires provision
of suitable educational environment and one of its requirements is determination of the stressinducing
factors. Objective: To identify the clinical training stress inducing factors among
INs in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Setting: The study was carried out in NICU at
El-Shatby Maternity University Hospital, Alexandria University. Subjects: The subjects of
present study comprised of 140 INs providing care for neonates admitted to NICU. Tools:
Three tools were used to collect necessary data, namely, Characteristics of INs Structured
Interview Schedule, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and Intern Nurses' Stress Factors
Structured Questionnaire. Results: The study revealed that more than half (52.1%) of INs had
moderate stress level. Discrepancy between theory and practice was the most perceived
academic stress factor among the majority of INs (90.0%). While, public opinion about nurses
was the most perceived personal stress factor among 98.6% of INs. Moreover, criticism by
preceptor was the most perceived interpersonal stress factor. Furthermore, providing care for
many neonates at the same time was the most clinical stress factor among INs in NICU.
Conclusion: It can be concluded that INs are confronted with multiple stress factors such as,
academic, personal, interpersonal, clinical, environmental, and health care system.
Recommendations: The main recommendation of current study was collaboration between
health care institutions and preceptors should be assured in order to overcome stress
inducing factors in NICU.