References

JCARM

Journal of Contemporary Academic Research and Methodologies

JCARM

3139-7247

Ivory and Finch Publishers

10.5281/zenodo.21357519

JCARM_JUN_26_146

Original Research Article

Bullying Experiences and Perceived Stress Among Student Nurses in South-eastern Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Orinate Peters

Onia

https://orcid.org/ https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6873-5465

Psychology Unit, Merit College of Nursing Sciences, Orlu, Nigeria orinatepeters3@gmail.com Obioma Nkwocha

Emmanuel

Department of English, Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri, Nigeria.

10 07 2026

1 5

Background: Nursing students face significant academic demands and interpersonal challenges, including bullying within hierarchical educational environments. These stressors may negatively impact psychological well-being, academic performance, and professional development. However, limited empirical evidence exists on these issues among student nurses in Orlu, Imo State, Nigeria. Objective: This cross-sectional study examined bullying experiences, perceived stress, and coping strategies among 313 student nurses selected from three nursing training institutions in Orlu, Imo State, Nigeria. Methods: A structured questionnaire comprising the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and Brief COPE Inventory was administered. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and Chi-square tests. Results: Bullying was moderately experienced (mean=2.67±0.62), with fear of expressing opinion in class (2.92) and verbal insults (2.87) being most common. Perceived stress was high (mean=3.00±0.58), with 53.4% reporting high stress, primarily from academic workload (3.21) and clinical anxiety (3.18). Students predominantly used adaptive coping strategies (mean=3.11), with prayer (3.41) and social support (3.24) most frequent. Pearson correlation revealed a significant moderate positive relationship between bullying and perceived stress (r=0.524, p<0.001). The majority (86.6%) reported being bullied, with no significant association between year of study and bullying experiences (χ²=6.342, df=8, p=0.609). Conclusion: Bullying contributes significantly to perceived stress among student nurses. Nursing institutions should implement anti-bullying policies, stress management programmes, and culturally appropriate coping interventions.

bullying Perceived Stress Coping Strategies Student Nurses Cross-Sectional Study Nigeria.

26 06 2026 05 07 2026

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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