Date of Award

11-28-2021

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing (MScN)

First Advisor

Dr. Rozina Karamaliani

Second Advisor

Miss Lubna Ghazal

Third Advisor

Miss Fauzia Basaria Hasnani

Department

School of Nursing and Midwifery, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: The undergraduate students are prone to mental health issues because they are in the transition stage, from pedagogy to andragogy. Moreover, virtual education during the COVID-19 pandemic added to their stressors. The COVID -19 pandemic and the uncertainty related to it, increased anxiety and depression, and the risk of suicide, among undergraduate students around the globe.
Purpose: The purpose of the study was to assess the prevalence and the factors associated with anxiety and depression among undergraduate nursing students amid COVID-19 of public and private nursing schools in Karachi, Pakistan. Methodology: A mixed-method was employed to determine the prevalence and the factors associated with anxiety and depression among undergraduate nursing students during the third wave of COVID-19. For the quantitative arm, 300 undergraduate nursing students from a public and a private university of Karachi participated and completed a web-based questionnaire. A subset of 38 students were enrolled for FGDs (two virtual, two physical). The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, on SPSS version 25; Crude and adjusted odds ratios were reported along with their 95% confidence intervals. For qualitative data, content analysis was used, following the Creswell approach. Results: The current study reported a 51% prevalence of anxiety and depression; while 11.6% participants had a positive history of suicidal thoughts. The symptoms of anxiety and depression amid COVID-19 were associated with the female gender (OR = 2.56, 95% CI, 1.34 - 4.88), hostel residents (OR = 1.9, 95% CI, 1.02 - 3.52), students’ placement in the final year (OR = 1.36, 95% CI, 1.002 - 1.870), virtual format of study (OR = 1.74, 95% CI, 1.28 - 2.37), COVID-19 academic apprehensions and transition as future nurses’ (OR = 1.13, 95% CI, 1.0 - 1.29). The FGDs were found to be alignment with the quantitative data. In addition, the participants in the FGDs reported a lack of preparedness of institutes for e-learning, and barriers related to teachers, students, parents, and environment; these were identified factors associated with anxiety and depression among undergraduate nursing students.
Conclusion: The study reported a high prevalence of anxiety and depression among nursing students. To overcome the prevalence of anxiety and depression it is necessary to plan, and contemplate interventions (mental wellbeing services) and strategies with regard to the associated factors of anxiety and depression among undergraduate nursing students amid COVID-19, or any other pandemic crisis in the future.

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Last Page

153

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