SUFFERING AND MENTAL DISORDERS IN UNDERGRADUATE NURSING STUDENTS: INTEGRATIVE REVIEW

Abstract

This article sought to identify, in the scientific literature, evidence on suffering and mental disorders in undergraduate nursing students. An integrative literature review was used as the method, and the search was carried out in the databases LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences), IBECS (Spanish Bibliographic Index in Health Sciences), BDENF and MEDLINE, accessed via BVS, with a time limit of 10 years, including complete studies based on primary data that address the research question. The collection was carried out in August 2024, following eligibility criteria. In order to better assimilate the data, after a thorough reading of the full texts and careful analysis of the results found in the articles, the following thematic categories emerged to be addressed: The undergraduate period and its impact on students' mental health, the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and perceived stress in students, stressors identified during the undergraduate period, how students deal with the stress suffered during their undergraduate studies, and the incidence of stress, CMDs, depression, and anxiety in students. The results of the studies demonstrated that students in the health field have higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression when compared to university students in other areas. It is expected that this study will serve as a guide for better performance in undergraduate nursing, reducing the suffering and mental disorders that impact students, and that it will encourage the development of future nursing students' ability to deal with the phases of undergraduate studies.