Baccalaureate undergraduate nursing students' clinical anxiety: does it change after first psychiatric clinical exposure?

Psychiatric clinical experience has been linked to high levels of stress and anxiety in nursing students and there is a link between the nursing student attrition and the stress related to the clinical experience. This study aimed to 1- Assess baccalaureate undergraduate nursing students' clinical anxiety in the first psychiatric clinical practice. 2-Determine the change in undergraduate nursing students' clinical anxiety at the end of the first psychiatric clinical placement. Descriptive and quasi experimental design were used in the study. The study was carried out at Faculty of Nursing – Tanta University. The target population, all baccalaureate undergraduate nursing students who were going to start their first psychiatric clinical practice. Tools:- I - Structured self-report Questionnaire, it aimed at assess the respondents' perception about mentally ill patients, concerns, feelings, and suggestions for reducing clinical anxiety. II - State – Anxiety scale (SAS), aimed to measure the anxiety at the moment, both tools used twice (pre-post). The results, The study showed that there is a negative change in the clinical anxiety practice of baccalaureate undergraduate nursing students after completion of the first psychiatric clinical practice The study recommended that, it is essential to address learner anxiety in fresh ways, such as introducing psychiatric nursing skills in the first year of university program.