Mental health, wellbeing, and support needs of nursing students – ‘Help! I’m overwhelmed, I need an extension’

High and increasing prevalence rates of mental health problems among young people mean that youth mental health is a key priority for policymakers worldwide.1

University students around the world have increased vulnerability to poor mental health.2,3 Studying nursing is often regarded as more stressful than other healthcare studies, leading to compromised mental wellbeing in students.4 This is due to learning to care for acutely ill patients amongst staff, resource shortages, fear of making mistakes during high-intensity workloads and stressful learning environments.3

When compared with the general population of the same age, university students have more mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, psychosis, addiction, suicide risk, the use of mental health drugs and other chronic mental illnesses.5