Assessment of stress in the inclusion of nursing students in hospital practice/Evaluacion del estres en la insercion de los alumnos de enfermeria en la practica hospitalaria/Avaliacao do estresse na insercao dos alunos de enfermagem na pratica hospitalar

Objective. To verify the presence of stress among undergraduate nursing students in different stages of hospital practice. Method. Descriptive, cross-sectional study addressing 86 nursing students in their 6th, 7th, and 9th semesters in 2011. An instrument developed by Costa and Polak for the Assessment of Stress Among Nursing Students was used. It is composed of six domains: performance of practical activities, professional communication, time management, environment, professional training, and theoretical activity. Results. Most participants were women (95%) and the average age was 23 years old. A total of 84% of students passed the program's courses and 91% participated in extracurricular activities. Stressors are present during the entire program but intensify when students are introduced to care practice with an emphasis on the domain of professional training; related stress was high in all the semesters. The scores concerning the practical activity domain were higher only in the 6th semester. There were statistically significant levels at 0.01 and 0.10 in the difference in the averages in the domains of training and time management, respectively, between the semesters. As the students advance in the program, scores obtained in the domains presented by AEEE change. As stress can interfere in the performance and learning of nursing students, coping strategies should be devised to enable them to deal with stress during the program. Key words: stress, psychological; students, nursing; clinical clerkship. Objetivo. Evaluar la presencia de estres en estudiantes del pregrado de enfermeria en diferentes escenarios de la practica hospitalaria. Metodologia. Estudio descriptivo de corte transversal, en el que participaron 86 alumnos de enfermeria, del sexto, septimo y noveno semestre en 2011. Se empleo la escala de Evaluacion del Estres de Estudiantes de Enfermeria de Costa y Polak, que tiene seis dominios: realizacion de actividades practicas, comunicacion profesional, gerenciamiento del tiempo, ambiente, formacion profesional y actividad teorica. Resultados. Hubo un predominio del sexo femenino, 95%; la edad promedio fue de 23 anos; aprobaron las asignaturas del curso el 84%; y participaron en actividades extracurriculares, 91%. Las situaciones de estres estan presentes en todo el tiempo de formacion, pero se intensifican con la insercion del bienestar estudiantil en la practica, con enfasis en el campo de la formacion profesional que son altos en cada semest