The Effect of Progressive Relaxation Exercises by Nursing Students Before Clinical Practice

Aim: The investigators conducted this randomized controlled study to determine the effect of Progressive Relaxation Exercises practiced by first year nursing students before clinical practice on their perceptions of stress, psychological resilience and meaning of life.

Background: Progressive Relaxation Exercises has a positive effect on the person's mental/general health, life satisfaction and psychological well-being and enables the person to cope with stress.

Design: In this experimental randomized and controlled study including a control group, we administered a pre-test, post-test one and post-test two to the participating students.

Methods: The investigators are planning the study with 40 first year nursing students in the intervention group, and 40 first year nursing students in the control group. The students in the intervention group took part in eight sessions of Progressive Relaxation Exercises for four weeks, twice a week. We used the Student Introduction Form, Perceived Stress Scale, Brief Psychological Resilience Scale and Meaning and Purpose of Life Scale to collect the study data.

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Key information

Conditions

Healthy Behavior Exercise Motor Activity Stress

Age range

18 year–45 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Manisa Celal Bayar University

Manisa, Yunusemre, Turkey (Türkiye)

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Who did not have any diagnosed psychiatric diseases,
Who had not done Progressive Relaxation Exercises and / or did not have any clinical experience previously were included

Exclusion criteria

Who withdrew from the study at any stage,
Those who did not participate in the exercise sessions regularly
Those who used another relaxation method during this period,
Those who took antidepressants,
Those who were unwilling to participate in the study,
Those who lost one of their loved ones in the last 6 months were excluded from the research.

Treatment and study plan

Progressive Relaxation Exercise

Behavioral

We will use progressive relaxation exercises to investigate the potential effects on first year nursing students' whose in the preclinical period of education.

Primary outcomes

Stress

Time frame: four weeks

Stress of students was assessed with Perceived Stress Scale. Responses given to the items are rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 0 to 4 (0- Never, 1-Almost Never, 2-Sometimes, 3-Quite often, 4-Very Often). Items 4, 5, 7 and 8 containing positive statements are reverse scored. The minimum and maximum scores that can be obtained from the PSS are 0 and 40, respectively. The higher the score is the higher the level of stress is.
Meaning and Purpose of Life

Time frame: four weeks

Meaning of life of students was assessed with 17 items Meaning and Purpose of Life Scale. The options for the positive statements are scored as follows: strongly agree (5), agree (4), undecided (3), disagree (2), and strongly disagree (1). The negative statements are reverse scored. The options for the negative statements are scored as follows: strongly agree (1), agree (2), undecided (3), disagree (4) and strongly disagree (5).While the lowest possible score that can be obtained from the scale is 17, the highest possible score is 85. A high score indicates that the person's perception of the meaning and purpose of life is more positive whereas a low score indicates the person's perception of the meaning and purpose of life is more negative

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Manisa Celal Bayar University

Other

Registry information

Official study title

The Effect of Progressive Relaxation Exercises Applied to First Year Nursing Students Before Clinical Practice on Perceived Stress, Psychological Resilience and Meaning of Life

Important dates

Study start: 2025
Primary completion: 2025
Study completion: 2025
First posted: Mar 11, 2025
Registry last updated: Mar 27, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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