PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH-RELATED FACTORS AND PROFESSIONAL NURSING SUBJECT GRADE OUTCOME OF 1ST YR NURSING STUDENTS

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the number of cases around 100 countries particularly the Philippines. As this pandemic progressed, it brought not only the risk of death from the viral infection caused by the pandemic but also unbearable psychological health issues to the people. This is due to the quarantine brought by the pandemic wherein there is a drastic and sudden change to the daily lives of the people especially students from physical to online. This study aims to describe the psychological health-related factors of the college students and its effect on their professional nursing subject grade outcome during this COVID-19 pandemic specifically, academic year 2020-2021.

Method: A quantitative, non-experimental, descriptive, and correlational design was used in this study. Over 300 samples were acquired but 260 data were only valid from the first-year college students in a private university in Manila by using cluster random sampling. The participants answered a modified questionnaire via online Google forms from the researchers that were validated from five professionals.

Results: The data indicates that students have moderate anxiety in terms of social factors (mean = 3.04), economic factors (mean = 3.12), and cultural factors (mean = 2.74). As for their professional nursing subject grade outcome, 38.46% of the students got a letter grade of B which is under intermediate proficiency.

Conclusion: Notably, the psychological health-related factors in terms of social, economic, and cultural factors causes moderate anxiety for the first-year nursing students which includes their worry for their loved ones, the country’s economic status, grief for the community’s current state, comparison of routines before and during community quarantine, and current political issues. Although the respondents generally have moderate anxiety, this study revealed that psychological health-related factors do not affect the professional nursing subject grade outcome of the first-year nursing students in the academic year 2020-2021. Data suggests that majority of first year nursing students the nursing student body are anxious for their loved ones and the overall health of the country amidst the pandemic; however, they are able to perform well acquiring a letter grade of “B,” numerically valued at 78-84 over 100. Additionally, in the economic aspect of the population, majority of the respondents do not feel anxiety towards the resources they need or monetary necessities.

Keywords: COVID-19, Psychological Health Factors, Professional Nursing Subject Grade.