Abstract

Background: Korean nursing students experience higher levels of academic stress than
those of other disciplines. Academic stress leads to psychological distress and has
detrimental effects on well-being. The aim of this study was to identify the levels of stress,
self-perception and resilience of undergraduate nursing students and to recognize the
correlations between them. Methods: The research design is a descriptive correlational
study design. The participants in the study 198 nursing students in South Korea. The used
research measures were tools which measure stress, self-perception and resilience. Data
collection was conducted from May 13, 2019 to May 24, 2019 using SPSS 21.0 for data
analysis.Results: The results show that stress is affected by health status, and clinical
practice satisfaction. Meanwhile, resilience is affected by health status, interpersonal
relationships, personality trait and major satisfaction. Stress and resilience are negatively
correlated while self-perception and resilience are positively correlated. Furthermore, an
increase in self-perception correlates with an increase in resilience and a decrease in selfperception
correlates with a decrease in resilience. Conclusions: It is important for nursing
leaders of education and practice to find out the sources of stress and coping strategies used
by the students so that such leaders can help students effectively manage upcoming
problems and situations. In addition, if the social support system that protects nursing
students is systemically formed and utilized, it can not only help increase self-perception
and resilience of nursing students but also improve their happiness.