Nursing students’ perceived support and stress levels in clinical practice: the effect of clinical nurses’ patience levels

Aim: To investigate the relationships among nursing students’ perceived support and stress levels during clinical practice and the patience levels of clinical nurses.Method: A cross-sectional research design was used. This study was conducted between May and June 2024 with nursing students from the Faculty of Health Sciences at a university in Kayseri, in the Central Anatolia Region of Türkiye. The study population consisted of 258 undergraduate nursing students in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, and 74 clinical nurses responsible for mentoring students during clinical practice. The sample included 213 nursing students and 61 clinical nurses who agreed to participate. As outcome measures, students’ stress level, the level of support they perceived from nurses, and nurses’ patience level were measured. Data were collected using structured questionnaires administered face-to-face. The data were evaluated using descriptive statistical methods, parametric and nonparametric tests to assess differences between groups, the Pearson Correlation analysis, and structural equation modelling.Results: It was determined that nurses’ patience level significantly affected the level of support perceived by nursing students from nurses. In addition, it was revealed that the level of support perceived from nurses substantially affects the level of clinical stressor perception of students. The model explained 48.4% of the changes in the level of support perceived from nurses and 32.4% of the changes in the level of clinical stressor perception. Conclusion: This study revealed that the levels of support and stress perceived by nursing students in clinical practice processes were significantly related to the patience levels of nurses; it emphasized that selecting patience nurses as mentors in nursing education is a critical step.