Self-care behaviors and practices of nursing students: Review of literature

Abstract

Self-care is a vital component of nursing practice and is essential for the well-being of human beings, that is, both patients and nurses. However, nurses and nursing students tend to focus more on self-care of their patients and often pay little or no attention to personal self-care. This literature review explored self-care behaviors and practices of nursing students in general as well as across academic years of the study. In total, 11 studies were reviewed and critically appraised to identify current trends regarding nursing students’ self-care practices and behaviors in nursing literature. Nursing students realized the importance of maintaining their diet, sleep, and activity level to improve physical and physiological health. However, they tend to neglect self-care practices which could improve their emotional and psychological health because of academic stress, workload, and inadequate knowledge about the strategies to improve self-care in this domain. There is limited evidence for drawing any conclusions regarding students’ use of complementary therapies for self-care, the difference between self-care practices of nursing and non-nursing students, the usefulness of different interventions for improving students’ self-care practices, and the differences between self-care practices and behaviors of students across academic years.