Impact of Stress Perception Among Nursing Students in Albania During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought major psychological issues, such as stress and anxiety, to the global population at large, as well as to specific groups. One such group consists of university students who underwent online teaching and were isolated from physical social contacts for the majority of 2020-2021. However, the impact of stress on university students has not been studied in our country. Stress is influenced by cultural and societal aspects that vary from one country to another but share basic overall features.  Methods: This is a cross-sectional cohort study, using survey methodology, specifically the perceived stress scale-4 (PSS-4). The target population consisted of first-year bachelor nursing students of the Medical University of Tirana during the academic year 2020-2021, who underwent online teaching, as well as the same cohort of students upon their physical return to university.  Results: Overall stress perception was significantly higher among students in the academic year 2021-2022, Me (IQR)=8 (4), compared to the academic year 2020-2021, Me (IQR)=7 (5) (P 0.001). Also, the level of stress regarding the negative subscale was significantly higher among students in the academic year 2021-2022.  Conclusion: Overall, the results showed increased stress perception in the academic year 2021-2022 upon students’ physical return to university. We suggest that apart from other important factors, the increased level of stress among second-year students is a direct consequence of the pandemic-imposed measures of college closure and online teaching platforms.