Determining the Effect of Peer Mentoring Programme Applied to Nursing Students on Perceived Stress and Adaptation to University Life: A Quasi - Experimental Study

Beginning university is an important change for most young people, but it can limit relationships with family and friends. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a peer mentoring programme on the perceived stress and adaptation to university life of nursing students studying at a newly established nursing education institution. This study used a 'pre-test and post-test non control group' design, one of the quasi-experimental research methods. Data were collected using the Introductory Information Form, the Perceived Stress Level Scale and the Adaptation to University Life Scale. Parametric tests were employed in data analysis. Descriptive characteristics of the participants were presented as frequency, percentage, and mean. For normally distributed data, the independent samples t-test was used to analyze two-group comparisons, and the One-Way ANOVA test was used for comparisons involving more than two groups. The mean age of the nursing students who underwent peer mentoring was 19.6 years, 64% of the students were female, 60.8% were first year students (mentees) and more than a third (33.6%) had no information about peer mentoring. The outcomes obtained in this study reveal the effectiveness of the peer mentoring programme. Implementation of the peer mentoring programme decreased the perceived stress level of nursing students and increased their adaptation to university life.