PURPOSE: Clinical practicum is a stressful experience for medical school students, especially respiratory therapy (RT) students who often work in critical care units. The purpose of this study was to explore the stress and coping strategies of respiratory therapy students during their clinical practicum. METHODS: 29 undergraduate respiratory therapy students who have experience of clinical practice completed a self-administrative survey including demographics, Perceived Stress Scale, and Coping Behavior Inventory. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, and Pearson product moment correlation. RESULTS: The results showed that students perceived a mild level of stress (1.79±0.44). The most common stressor was lack of professional knowledge and skills (2.07±0.66) and caring patients (1.90±0.67). Among the four types of coping strategies (transference, stay optimistic, problem solving, and avoidance), stay optimistic (2.27±0.63) was the most frequently used. The perception of stress were significantly correlated to coping strategies (r=0.68, p<0.01). The more students perceived stress of professional knowledge and skills, caring patients, workload and homework, the more coping strategy of avoidance they took. CONCLUSION: These findings help clinical educator to understand the stress and coping strategies of RT students during clinical practice. It also provides information for school and clinical practice units when designing teaching programs to help RT students learn more efficiently.
PURPOSE: Clinical practicum is a stressful experience for medical school students, especially respiratory therapy (RT) students who often work in critical care units. The purpose of this study was to explore the stress and coping strategies of respiratory therapy students during their clinical practicum. METHODS: 29 undergraduate respiratory therapy students who have experience of clinical practice completed a self-administrative survey including demographics, Perceived Stress Scale, and Coping Behavior Inventory. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, and Pearson product moment correlation. RESULTS: The results showed that students perceived a mild level of stress (1.79±0.44). The most common stressor was lack of professional knowledge and skills (2.07±0.66) and caring patients (1.90±0.67). Among the four types of coping strategies (transference, stay optimistic, problem solving, and avoidance), stay optimistic (2.27±0.63) was the most frequently used. The perception of stress were significantly correlated to coping strategies (r=0.68, p<0.01). The more students perceived stress of professional knowledge and skills, caring patients, workload and homework, the more coping strategy of avoidance they took. CONCLUSION: These findings help clinical educator to understand the stress and coping strategies of RT students during clinical practice. It also provides information for school and clinical practice units when designing teaching programs to help RT students learn more efficiently.