Final Report: Experiences of Undergraduate Health Students (HLTH3102)

This report presents a qualitative research project exploring the experiences of undergraduate health students managing study, work, and life. The study employed semi-structured interviews to gather data on students' perceptions of their experiences. The findings revealed three key themes: stress, financial burden, and dissatisfaction. Stress, stemming from factors like poor time management and academic pressure, was identified as a significant concern. Financial constraints and a lack of life satisfaction were also found to contribute to anxiety and potentially negative health outcomes. The study also explored limitations, such as limited literature resources and a potential bias due to the majority of participants being nursing students. Recommendations included the establishment of guiding and counseling services and financial aid programs to mitigate stress and improve student well-being. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of addressing these challenges to support the holistic health of health program 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

students in the department of health to a lot of stress since they always sacrifice or rather go an
extra mile to achieve those set pass marks and this may be through trans knighting. The
combination of pressure and lack of sleep leads to a lot of stress to the students.
Financial burden and dissatisfaction with life can have a very big impact on the life of
undergraduate students as found out in the study. Many students from the department of health
sciences are usually provided with little money to carter for their needs as it was found out
during the study. The financial burden that the students are subjected to that include budgeting
for different resources leads to students developing anxiety. General dissatisfaction is also
another cause of anxiety among students as they feel unworthy with their grades and this leads to
different health problems. Such problems include strokes, ulcers and mental disorders.
From the students or rather the participant’s responses, they recommended different
strategies which such shortcomings can be handled. One such way is through setting up the
guiding and counselling departments through which the student’s grievances can be aired
through so that they can get assistance. Another way is through the University providing a
financial package to students who are financially stable so that they are comfortable when it
comes to handling their budget. With all this strategies in place, cases of stress and anxiety
would be totally reduced among the students and this will spare them from the agony of
detrimental health conditions that arise from those experiences.
CONCLUSION
It is very evident that students in the health programs go through different experiences in
the course of their academic career. Some of the experiences include stress. Stress is sometimes
caused by the lack of balance between family and the study life. Another cause of stress as was

find out by the study was the poor financial management that leaves most of the students dead
broke. Besides financial mismanagement and the lack of balance between the study and family
life, the state of life satisfaction also contribute to stress. The study experienced limitations like
lack of enough literature materials and majority of the respondents were from the nursing
department and there could therefore be some form of biasness in the study. There should be
however strategies that can assist the students go over such experiences. Such strategies include
setting up psychology and counselling departments where experts along that line can come in
and assist students go over such difficulties.

References
Purnamaningsih, E. H. (2017). Personality and Emotion Regulation Strategies. International
Journal of Psychological Research, 10(1), 53. doi:10.21500/20112084.2040
Samaha, M., & Hawi, N. S. (2016). Relationships among smartphone addiction, stress,
academic performance, and satisfaction with life. Computers in Human Behavior, 57,
321-325. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.12.045
Venkatarao, E., Iqbal, S., & Gupta, S. (2015). Stress, anxiety & depression among medical
undergraduate students & their socio-demographic correlates. Indian Journal of
Medical Research, 141(3), 354. doi:10.4103/0971-5916.156571