THE PERCEPTION OF STRESS ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF UNDERGRADUATE NURSING SCIENCE STUDENTS OF BENSON IDAHOSA UNIVERSITY, BENIN CITY EDO STATE.

This Study aimed in investigating the association between perceived stress levels and academic performances of undergraduate nursing science students of Benson Idahosa University. The specific objective of this study were to ascertain the knowledge on the concept of stress ,evaluate the stress levels and discover certain coping mechanisms employed by the undergraduate nursing students of Benson idahosa university to manage stress. The study adopted a Correlational survey research design and the target population for this research were the 300 and 400 level nursing students with a total of 256and a sample size of 172students. The instrument used in this study was a structured questionnaire. The instrument's data was examined using the mean, standard deviation, frequencies, and a straightforward percentage count. The study's conclusions showed that significantly majority of the respondents 68.02% of respondents showed good knowledge on the concept of stress. 58.2% agreed that there is a high level of perceived stress amongst undergraduate nursing science students. However 41.8% disagreed and indicated that stress levels and stressors amongst undergraduate nursing students is predominantly low. The study concluded 67.2% of undergraduate nursing students of Benson Idahosa university had low levels of coping strategies and therefore an increase in perceived stress of these students. Therefore these findings Underscored