The Relationship Between Nursing Students’ Professional Competencies Related to Clinical Practices and Clinical Stressor Perceptions

Objective: This study was planned to identify the relationship between nursing students’ professional competencies toward clinical practice and their perceptions of clinical stressors. Methods: The research was conducted in a cross-sectional and correlational design between November and December 2022. The sample consisted of 737 nursing students. Results: The results showed that the Competency Inventory for Nursing Students score was 251.93±33.74 and the Nursing Students’ Perceptions of Clinical Stressors Scale score was 85.43±17.52. Students' competency and clinical stressor perception scores are above the medium level, based on the average of the lowest and highest scores that can be obtained from the scales. A weak statistically significant relationship in the negative direction was found between the Competence Inventory scores and the Clinical Stressor Perceptions Scale. Conclusions: As the clinical stressor perceptions of nursing students increased, their professional competence decreased.