“Longe de casa, há mais de uma semana ...”: o estresse entre discentes que moram longe da família.

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) points that stress leads to psychological problems, but also reflected in the individual's body, bringing psychosomatic symptoms. To go to college, some students end up developing stress and anxiety before all the personal, social and economic changes involving this new context. This study aimed to characterize the stress among nursing students living with family and those who live far from the family environment. This is a quanti study of comparative nature, held at the Federal University of Campina Grande campus Cuité - Paraiba. The sample was 41% of students enrolled in the Nursing Degree Course of this institution. Data collection was conducted through a questionnaire, and also the stress assessment instrument Nursing Students validated by Costa and Polak (2008). Data were collected between July and August 2016 and analyzed between August and September of that year, along with the questionnaire, so that one could trace the profile of the students and compare them. They were then tabulated and discussed in light of literature. It was observed that students who are away from their families say they feel more stressed. They also have higher levels of stress in situations linked to practical activities, time management, while those who are more contact with family feel more stressed with the theoretical course activities. In both groups the professional future became a stressor. The main symptoms presented by the students were anxiety, headache, nail biting, nausea, sweating among others that were less cited and the confrontations that even pointed to avoid, alleviate or cure these symptoms were listening to music, eating, sleeping, talking, leisure activities and watch programs / series / movies and physical activities were among the most frequently cited.