Psychometric Evaluation of the Clinical Stress Questionnaire (CSQ)

The purpose of the Clinical Stress Questionnaire (CSQ) was to assess the appraisal of stress in the clinical experience of nursing students as threatening or challenging. The CSQ consists of a 20-item Likert scale and some open-ended questions. The instrument was administered to 246 female nursing students from 7 different colleges and universities in Pennsylvania after their first day of their medical-surgical clinical experience. Alpha coefficients of .85 and .84 were obtained for the challenge and threat scales, respectively. Factor analysis supported construct validity. A paired T-test indicated that the students were significantly more challenged than threatened. However, the students' comments focused more on the negative aspects of stress and threat.