Abstract

Background: Stress is a common psychological concern among nursing students due to academic demands, clinical exposure, and personal challenges. Persistent perceived stress may adversely affect self-esteem and coping abilities, ultimately influencing academic performance and mental well-being. Planned instructional modules have emerged as effective non-pharmacological strategies to improve psychological health among students. Aim: The present study was undertaken to develop and evaluate the impact of a planned instructional module on perceived stress, self-esteem, and coping strategies among students of a nursing college in Jaipur. Methodology: An experimental study design was adopted, involving 80 nursing students, who were equally allocated into an experimental group (n = 40) and a control group (n = 40). Data were collected using standardized tools: the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). Pre-test and Post-test assessments were conducted for both groups. The experimental group received the planned instructional module, while the control group received routine academic exposure. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a two-way mixed-design ANOVA, with the level of significance set at p< 0.05. Results: The findings revealed a highly significant main effect of time and a significant Group × Time interaction for both perceived stress and self-esteem (p< 0.05). The experimental group demonstrated a greater reduction in perceived stress and a significant improvement in self-esteem compared to the control group. The effect sizes ranged from moderate to very large, indicating strong clinical significance of the instructional module

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