The effects of a hardiness educational intervention on hardiness and perceived stress of baccalaureate nursing students.

Abstract

<p>Despite the known benefits of hardiness education, no published research has been found on the effects of hardiness education with nursing students.&nbsp; Thus, the purposes of this study were first to determine if an increase in hardiness and a decrease in perceived stress in baccalaureate nursing students occurred in those who participated in a hardiness educational intervention.&nbsp; Secondly, to compare hardiness and perceived stress between baccalaureate nursing students who participated and those who did not participate in a hardiness educational intervention.&nbsp; A substruction of the application of Khoshaba and Maddi&rsquo;s Hardiness Model and the Roy Adaptation Model provided the theoretical basis for this research.&nbsp;</p> <p>The literature on stress verified its omnipresence and ongoing study.&nbsp; The nursing literature was replete with evidence of the stress of undergraduate nursing students.&nbsp; Appraisal of initial hardiness research facilitated the eventual establishment of a measurement instrument of hardiness and the inauguration of a hardiness educational program.&nbsp; Review of the Hardiness Model and the Roy Adaptation Model established connections and conceptual collaboration.&nbsp;</p> <p>A quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design with pretest and posttest was used with a nonprobability convenience sample (<em>N</em> = 79) of full-time junior level baccalaureate nursing students enrolled in a clinical nursing course recruited from six National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission or Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education accredited nursing programs in Delaware and Pennsylvania.&nbsp;</p> <p>Baccalaureate nursing students in the experimental group (<em>n</em> = 40) participated in a hardiness educational intervention.&nbsp; Baccalaureate nursing students in the control group (<em>n</em> = 39) did not participate in the hardiness educational intervention.&nbsp; The nursing students completed pretest and posttest measurements of hardiness (PVS III-R), perceived stress (PSS), and demographic data.&nbsp; Results of statistical analysis by independent and paired <em>t</em>-tests revealed that the hardiness educational intervention did not have a statistically significant (<em>p</em> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">&gt;</span> .05) effect on increasing hardiness scores.&nbsp; The hardiness educational intervention did have a statistically significant effect on decreasing perceived stress scores.&nbsp;</p> <p>Findings were discussed relative to current literature and the theoretical framework.&nbsp; The lack of significant increase in hardiness was equivocal with Khoshaba and Maddi&rsquo;s Hardiness Model.&nbsp; The significant decrease in perceived stress was congruent with the Hardiness Model and the Roy Adaptation Model.&nbsp; The substruction of the application of the HM and the RAM requires further research and evaluation.&nbsp; Further hardiness research among baccalaureate nursing students, utilizing the entire hardiness educational intervention, was recommended.&nbsp;</p>