In 2005 when Louisiana took two devastating hits from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, residents in affected communities felt the physical and emotional strain of losing everything they owned.
A study conducted by two nursing faculty members three months after Katrina and two months after Rita shows nursing students at the 小蝌蚪APP were no different emotionally. The pair will present the findings to the prestigious World Psychiatric Association小蝌蚪APP檚 International Congress in Australia in late November.
Drs. Sudha Patel and Ardith Sudduth, both assistant professors in the College of Nursing and Allied Health Professions, found that their students were having trouble concentrating and making decisions following these natural disasters.
小蝌蚪APP We were concerned about the effect of stress on nursing students小蝌蚪APP learning after these two hurricanes,小蝌蚪APP said Patel.
The study小蝌蚪APP檚 purpose was to make faculty aware of stress experienced by students and to assist faculty in making decisions about curricular adjustments to help students meet their learning needs.
The study set out to answer three questions: How much stress have students experienced as a result of hurricanes Katrina and Rita? What behaviors are students reporting as a result of the impact of the hurricanes? and What coping strategies were students using to deal with stress following the hurricanes? The pair polled 447 nursing students.
小蝌蚪APP We found that all of the students expressed stress levels that were significantly elevated,小蝌蚪APP said Sudduth. 小蝌蚪APP淪ome had homes that were destroyed. Others had extended family living with them. And still, even if you didn小蝌蚪APP檛 live in the impacted areas, you were affected. In the Lafayette community, more people were here because of evacuations, making traffic heavier and grocery store lines longer.小蝌蚪APP
All of this contributed to higher stress levels for students.
小蝌蚪APP Our findings showed that student stressors included losing their homes, their valuables, visitors boarding in their home for long periods of time and for some, staying in shelters themselves,小蝌蚪APP said Patel.
In addition, findings showed that the older the students were, the more they thought about the disasters. 小蝌蚪APP淪ome students told about the death of family during and immediately after the hurricanes and many talked about the stress of dealing with losses,小蝌蚪APP said Patel.
What seemed to help students cope the most was talking with friends and family and taking time for themselves. Some even reported that participating in the study was a help while others noted their work at local shelters was a stress reliever.
Those who reported getting less support from friends and family were more likely to turn to alcohol, according to the study.
小蝌蚪APP We realized that our students were feeling the effects of the hurricanes and that we could help alleviate some of their stressors,小蝌蚪APP said Sudduth. 小蝌蚪APP淲e encouraged them to talk with friends and family and also told them about free resources on campus like counseling. We wanted them to take advantage of these offerings so their studies wouldn小蝌蚪APP檛 suffer.小蝌蚪APP
In addition to being presented to the World Psychiatric Association小蝌蚪APP檚 International Congress, the study findings will also serve as a reference should other natural disasters happen. 小蝌蚪APP淢aybe we can help students by being even more prepared for these stressors should something happen in the future,小蝌蚪APP said Patel.