INTRODUCTION: Nursing students suffer from high levels of stress related to academic assignments in addition to clinical skills training. As a psychosocial phenomenon, stress affects students’ academic achievement and wellbeing. Coping mechanisms help students deal with the challenges arising from stress.AIMS: To illustrate the level of stress and common stressors among nursing students; to describe the difference in stress level related to demographic data; and to identify coping mechanisms used by nursing students.METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the type of stress and coping strategies among nursing students. The level of stress was evaluated through Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and type of coping strategies were assessed by use of Coping Behaviours Inventory (CBI).RESULTS: Students perceived moderate level of stress, most commonly attributed to assignments and workload, teachers and nursing staff, peers and daily life, and taking care of patients. The most frequently used coping mechanism was problem solving. The study found that age, GPA, education level and residence are good predictors of the use of transference as a coping behaviour.CONCLUSION: A moderate level of stress among students illustrates the need for stress management programs and the provision of suitable support.

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Background: Excessive internet usage is a worldwide problematic issue among young adults and college students. Previous studies showed that Saudi young adults are involved in this problem. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of Internet Addiction (IA), and to find out its relation with depressive symptoms, sleep quality, and demographic variables. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design. Data were collected from 341 nursing students in Saudi Arabia using three scales: Young’s Internet Addiction Test, Central Epidemiologic Scale for Depression and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Results: The results showed that 35.1% of students were suffering from frequent problems and 0.9% were suffering from significant problems due to heavy internet usage. The correlation results found a positive moderate correlation between IA and depression (r = 0.401, p < 0.001) and a positive weak correlation with sleep quality (r = 0. 196, p = 0.002). Sleeping and depression were weakly correlated (r = 0.274, p < 0.001). Regression analysis revealed that IA was associated with: smoking status, high family income, duration of usage (3-6 hours and >6 hours), and depressive symptoms. The depressive level was associated with duration of usage (>6 hours), students’ grading point average (GPA), IA, and sleep quality. Sleep quality was found to be associated with duration of usage (>6 hours) and having depressive symptoms. Conclusion: The findings illustrate the need for proper management of internet usage, as well as developing plans to avoid the negative consequences of internet addiction on psychological wellbeing by incorporating nursing education programs about appropriate internet usage.

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Background/aims Nurses' sense of empowerment and ability to speak up against unsafe clinical practice are crucial to patient safety and staff wellbeing. However, research examining these attitudes among newly qualified nurses is lacking. This study aimed to investigate perceptions of organisational empowerment and willingness to speak up against perceived unsafe practice among newly qualified nurses in Saudi Arabia. Methods A questionnaire was completed by a convenient sample of 83 newly qualified nurses in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Descriptive statistics and Spearman's correlation coefficient (rho) were used for data analysis. Findings The nurses reported moderate levels of both empowerment and willingness to speak up against unsafe practice. There was a statistically significant correlation between the participants' total structured empowerment score and their speaking up score. Willingness to speak up against potentially unsafe practice was also correlated with participants' perceived access to support at work. Conclusions These findings highlight the need to support newly qualified nurses to develop their level of empowerment and assertive communication skills. Nurse managers, educators and peers must therefore consider practical strategies to help build and sustain newly qualified nurses' sense of work empowerment and assertiveness.