Degree Name
Nursing Practice, DNP
Publication Date
6-22-2025
First Advisor
Lisa Drake
Second Advisor
Kristie Givens
Abstract
Test anxiety is a substantial barrier to success among prelicensure nursing students, given the heavy course load and high academic pressure of the educational environment. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to measure the impact of gratitude journaling on levels of test anxiety in first-semester Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) enrolled in a nursing math course at a regional university in Arkansas. Following a quasi-experimental design, students participating in the project completed the Westside Test Anxiety Scale (WTAS) before and after five weeks of gratitude journaling. Thirty-two students participated in the intervention and 24 of those completed both the pre- and post-intervention WTAS. Descriptive statistics and a paired t-test were used to analyze changes in anxiety levels, and themes were categorized from the qualitative feedback. WTAS scores were lower post-intervention, but the change in mean scores was not statistically significant. Qualitative feedback revealed major themes, including greater emotional regulation and increased self-awareness. The findings suggest that gratitude journaling is a feasible and low-cost intervention that was well received by students and has the potential to be a beneficial wellness strategy used by nursing programs to promote student success. The project contributes to the growing body of evidence suggesting incorporating holistic self-care approaches into nursing education.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Scoggins, Jourdan, "Quality Improvement Project The Introduction of Gratitude Journaling to Decrease Test Anxiety in Prelicensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing Students" (2025). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 186.
https://arch.astate.edu/dnp-projects/186
