Lethika. K and Amudha Devi. N.V
Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India.
One of the significant models on the topic of stress defined stress as a state of
psychological and physiological imbalance caused by a discrepancy between situational
demands and people’s capacities and motivations to meet those demands. Nursing
students become increasingly stressed during their education as they are exposed
to several stressors. When stress is perceived as uncontrollable or unmanageable
performance levels start to decline slowly to dramatically. This causes a decline in
productivity and enthusiasm. It’s momentous to find out the relationship between
stress and test anxiety among nursing students. For this purpose, required data
were randomly gathered from 208 nursing students taken from three different nursing
colleges in Kozhikode District, Kerala, India. In this study, two standardized instruments
were used student stress scale developed by Manju Agrawal (2012) and the test
anxiety scale developed by Sharma, V. P. (2000). Data were analyzed by applying
mean, standard deviation-test, correlation, and regression. Research findings reveal
a significant correlation between stress and test anxiety. Stress related to familial,
social, educational, ego threat, bereavement, and personal setbacks were found to be
strongly associated with test anxiety. Furthermore, total stress was found to be positively
related to test anxiety. Financial stress, separation, and the health of others had no
significant association with test anxiety. It is suggested that higher authorities of an
educational institution may organize regular stress management workshops, guidance,
and counseling service to meet students’ needs, help them to manage stress, and to
reduce test anxiety among nursing students.