Stress, Financial Burden, and Dissatisfaction Among Undergraduate Health Students

Abstract
AIMS: This particular study aimed at understanding the experiences that undergraduate
students in health programs go through when managing study, work as well as life. Methods:
The methods used in this study included semi structured interviews exploring the University
students on how they feel when they are managing study, work and life. Results: The study
found out that stress, financial management and dissatisfaction are the main components or
rather factors that contribute to anxiety which could further lead to negative health problems.
Conclusion: Students, especially those in the health programs at the University experience stress
and anxiety which mostly arise due to attempts to balance between family and study and the
struggles of financial management. Strategies like setting up guiding and counselling sessions
should be put in place to assist students with such cases.

DISCUSSION
Based on the results that were deduced from the study, stress, financial burden and
dissatisfaction with life can have a very big impact on the life of undergraduate students. The
overall results is that panic as well as anxiety leads to poor health outcomes.
According to psychological theory under the Health belief model, stress is a certain
feeling of strain as well as pressure (Purnamaningsih, 2017). Stress is generally a form of
psychological pain. However, small amounts of stress are desirable since they can be healthy.
From different studies, it has been established that positive stress has the ability to positively
impact the athletic performance. Besides, positive stress can also motivate and assist in the
adaptation and the reaction to different environments. Excess stress is however detrimental to the
body as it may lead to bodily harm and elevate the risks of strokes, heart attack, ulcers as well as
mental disorders.
The cognitive theory attempts to explain human behavior through their thoughts. In this
case of undergraduate students in the department of health sciences, most students take time
thinking about their financial constraints and this might be one of the factors that lead to stress
which later lead to anxiety. Anxiety on the other hand might lead to adverse health conditions.
The other theories cannot be used in the discussion since they don’t relate in any way to human
behaviors.
Just like other studies, my study also experienced different limitations. One of the
greatest challenges was that the resource material were very few. With few resources I mean the
literature materials for reference was inadequate. Another limitation was that majority of the

participants in the study were nursing students and therefore the response might to some extent
be biased.
From this study, it was established that indeed stress, financial mismanagement and
general dissatisfaction of life and the lack of balance between the family and study are the main
factors that lead to anxiety which eventually leads to poor health outcomes (Venkatarao, Iqbal, &
Gupta, 2015). This is in line with several studies that have already linked this to strokes, ulcers
and mental disorders as explained earlier on.
Stress can either be external or internal. Internal stress is the one that arises from within
while external stress is the one that arises from the external environments. There are several
reasons that contribute to stress in undergraduate students pursuing health related programs. One
such cause is poor sleeping habits (Venkatarao, Iqbal, & Gupta, 2015). Normally, students in the
department of health have a lot of work or busy schedule that involve clinical placements during
the day and again they have to revise their classwork at night. As a result, they have very little
time to sleep. According to a certain research by the University of Minnesota department of
Health, students who don’t sleep for enough time end up developing stress as compared to those
who sleep a lot. This phenomenon clearly coincides with the findings of this study. According to
the National Sleep foundation, sleep provides the brain with a chance to recharge as well as
maintaining the immune system very strong. It is therefore healthy for students to have enough
sleep to overcome stress.
Academic pressure is another cause of stress among undergraduate students in the health
programs. In the department of health, the pass mark is usually higher as compared to other
departments. This has the general effect of subjecting students from this department to a lot of
academic pressure. The necessity to bridge this pass mark always subjects undergraduate