Factors Affecting Iranian Nursing Students' Test Anxiety: A Narrative Review

Introduction: Test anxiety has been considered an obstacle to academic achievement. Compared with other healthcare fields, test anxiety prevalence is higher in nursing students. It can have a negative impact on the career of nursing students in the future. Therefore, this review aimed to determine the effective factors and interventions related to controlling test anxiety in Iranian nursing students. Methods: The keywords including Nursing students, Iran, and Test Anxiety were searched in databases and search engines such as Magiran, SID, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus from 2012 to 2022. Review articles, case-series studies, and letters to the editor were excluded. Two authors were responsible for screening independently. Results: Eventually, 12 studies were included. There were 660 nursing students in this review. The findings indicated that the intervention including aromatherapy, cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies, guided imagery, listening to Holy Quran, problem-solving training, existential methods, and positive self-talk can be effective in reducing test anxiety. As well, the association of test anxiety with academic performance was assessed and there was no relationship between them. Conclusion: Authorities of nursing faculties can consider test anxiety reduction interventions in this study for reducing stress in nursing students. However, studies with larger samples are needed.

Iran, Nursing Student, Test Anxiety