Research Article Stressors and Coping Strategies of the Saudi Nursing Students in the Clinical Training: A Cross-Sectional Study Salman H. Alsaqri Medical Surgical Department, College of Nursing, University of Hail, Hail, Saudi Arabia Correspondence should be addressed to Salman H. Alsaqri; slmn44@gmail.com Received 6 April 2017; Accepted 24 May 2017; Published 14 June 2017 Academic Editor: Gwo-Jen Hwang Copyright © 2017 Salman H. Alsaqri. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Nursing students ofen encounter high levels of stress through clinical practice that may cause psychological or emotional problems during their professional life eventually afecting the quality of patient care they provide. Te aims of the current study were to identify the level and types of stress perceived by nursing students in their clinical practice and to identify the coping strategies that students used to relieve their stress. A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used in this study. A total of 200 students who were enrolled in the nursing program were taken as study respondents. Research data were collected using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Coping Behavior Inventory (CBI). Data was analyzed using one-way ANOVA test, Pearson’s test, and independent sample -test on SPSS version 22. Findings indicated that nursing students experienced a high level of stress. Te most common coping strategy utilized by the students was problem solving, while avoidance was the least frequently used one. Saudi nursing students experienced stress levels above the mean in clinical training. Te most common stressors were related to assignments and workload. Te study recommends that clinical curriculum requirements and the workload of nursing students should be reviewed. 1. Introduction Te nursing program has the desired end of producing skilled and qualifed nurses who are capable of utilizing their knowledge and skills in the practice of the profession. Terefore, student nurses’ clinical training should be appro- priately designed for them to develop cognitive, afective, and psychomotor skills that are essential for ascending the nursing career path [1]. Most nursing curricula allocate more than half of the nursing students time for clinical expo- sure using advanced technical instrumentation and perform nursing skills that may cause severe impairment to their patients, therefore increasing their worry of creating errors. Terefore, they view the clinical area as a very stressful place [2]. Learning challenges of the students in clinical practice may cause stress which may directly or indirectly hinder their performance [3]. Pryjmachuk and Richards [4] indicated that stress during students training is similar to that experienced by registered nurses. Moreover, stress afects almost each profession. However, levels of stress are higher, and there are a greater number of sources of stress among nursing professionals with negative consequences for their health [5]. 1.1. Bachelor of Science in Nursing in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has undergone rapid nursing education changes in recent years with the shift from associate degree education and diploma nursing to the current four-year baccalaure- ate degree education [6]. Te organization of the nursing curriculum is afected by the Ministry of Education and nursing education program requirements [7]. Nursing pro- gram requirements contain all subjects related to preparing students for the licensed professional nurse [7]. Te last year of the program is an internship period in clinical practice, providing the students with the chance to combine their skills and knowledge. Te nursing program is covered over fve years which are allocated to lectures, laboratory work, and clinical practice that all delivered using English as a medium of instruction [7]. More specifcally, the nursing program at the University of Hail is designed to provide sophomore nursing students fundamental nursing skills in laboratories prior to clinical exposure on their junior and senior year. It includes seventy-two (72) actual hours of clinical exposure supervised and assessed by clinical instructors. Each clinical course is concurrent with a theoretical course. Hindawi Education Research International Volume 2017, Article ID 4018470, 8 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/4018470