Development of Nursing Students Stressor Questionnaire

Abstract

Background: Stress has become a chronic and pervasive condition in the world today. Any stimulus which evokes
a stress response is called a stressor. The objective of the study was to develop a questionnaire to measure stressors
among first year B.Sc nursing students in Kerala.
Methods: Descriptive cross sectional design integrating both qualitative and quantitative methods were used for
the study. Data was analyzed by qualitative content analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics.
Results: A 22 item screening instrument named as Nursing Students Stressor Questionnaire (NSSQ) was developed.
Test retest reliability was found to be 0.923 with 95% CI 0.878 – 0.957. The internal consistency Cronbach’s alpha of
the tool was 0.866. Construct validity was established by exploratory factor analysis which yielded seven factors
with Eigen Values more than one. The factors explained 60% of total variance.
Conclusion: NSSQ is a simple, easy to administer, self-reported screening instrument with acceptable reliability
and validity.