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Abstract
Background: Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) and Objective Structured Practical Examination (OSPE) are standard ways to check how well nursing students are learning.
But these exams are strict, time-limited, and watched closely, which can create a lot of stress. This stress can make students less confident and affect their performance.
Objective: To find out how much stress nursing students feel during OSCE/OSPE exams in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and what causes that stress.
Methodology: We did a study that looked at 404 undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students from all four years of study.
Each year had about 101 students. Questionnaire that was based on a proven tool for measuring stress. Stress was split into low (0–13), moderate (14–26), and high (27–40).We used SPSS version 27.0 to do statistical analysis, including Pearson Chi-square tests and one-way ANOVA.
Results: On average, students had a moderate stress level with a score of 16.12 ± 10.120.
Most students had moderate stress (47.8%, n = 193), followed by low stress (39.4%, n = 159) and high stress (12.9%, n = 52). The year of study had a big effect on stress levels. First-year students had the highest stress (19.43 ± 9.81), and fourth-year students had the lowest (12.87 ± 9.75). Gender also made a difference. Female students had more high stress (28.0%) than male students (11.9%). Place of residence and marital status did not affect stress levels. The main causes of stress were not enough time to finish tasks, worry about waiting, and fear of making mistakes, stressful exam environments, and being watched by examiners.
Conclusion: It’s common for nursing students to feel stressed during OSCE/OSPE exams.
Younger students and female students are more likely to feel stressed. Nursing schools should provide better preparation, like pre-exam talks, practice sessions, simulation training, and better time management during exams. This can help reduce stress and improve clinical skills.