A Comparative Analysis of Self-Reported Psychological Wellbeing of Undergraduate Nursing and Non-Nursing Students in Jamaica

Introduction: Psychological well-being refers to the inter-and intra-individual levels of positive functioning that can include one’s relatedness with others and self-referent attitudes that include one’s sense of mastery and personal growth. It reflects dimensions that affect judgments of life satisfaction and contentment. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the lives of humans and included in this shift in health is one’s psychological wellbeing. A review of the literature revealed no current study on the psychological well-being of undergraduate students in Jamaica.

Objective: This study seeks to 1) compare the psychological well-being of nursing and non-nursing students and 2) identify how the school has affected them psychologically.

Methods and Materials: A correlational research design was used for this research using a sample of 500 respondents who attend a tertiary educational institution in Jamaica between November 2 and December 18, 2020. A standardized questionnaire adapted from the Rand Cooperation SF 36 wellness index was used to gather data.

Results: Of the sampled respondents (n=500), 67% indicated at least good psychological well-being, with most of them having good health status (31.2%, n=156). 40.4% of the respondents indicated having at least a better psychological well-being than last year, with most of them responding that they have a somewhat better psychological well-being (24.2%, n=121). Seventy-seven percent (77%, n=173) of the nursing students indicated that they have a good psychological well-being compared to 58.95% (n=162) of non-nursing students (χ2(4) =18.682, P=0.001).

Conclusion: The finding provides some insights into the resilience of nursing students and supports future research on the cognitive domain of these students.

Keywords: Non-nursing student; nursing student; psychological well-being; undergraduate; well-being; Jamaica