{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T17:53:18Z","timestamp":1785433998106,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"AOSIS","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,20]],"date-time":"2026-06-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781913600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background:\u00a0Nursing students face significant academic and clinical stressors that can affect their psychological well-being. These challenges are intensified during extraordinary events, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.\nObjectives:\u00a0This study investigated psychological distress and resilience among junior (1st year \u2013 2nd year) and senior (3rd year \u2013 4th year) undergraduate nursing students exposed to a major stressor at two universities in the Western Cape, South Africa.\nMethod:\u00a0A survey was conducted among 589 nursing students during and after COVID-19. Most respondents were female (77.4%) and junior students (75.2%), with a mean age of 22.5 years (\u00b1 4.6). Data collection took place at University A (February 2021\u2013March 2021) and University B (November 2021\u2013February 2022). Measures include psychological distress (Kessler-10), resilience (Response to Stressful Experiences Scale) and fear of COVID-19 (Fear of COVID-19 Scale).\nResults:\u00a0Overall, students reported mild psychological distress and fear of COVID-19, and high levels of resilience. Senior students experienced significantly higher psychological distress than juniors (p\u00a0&lt; 0.001), but lower fear of COVID-19 (p\u00a0= 0.028). Resilience did not differ significantly between groups, with most students demonstrating high resilience.\nConclusion:\u00a0Nursing students showed strong resilience despite the added pandemic-related stressors. Elevated distress among seniors, however, highlights the need for targeted psychological support. Strengthening resilience within nursing education may prepare students to manage future crises and contribute to a sustainable, adaptable nursing workforce.\nContribution:\u00a0This study provides evidence on the psychological well-being of nursing students in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic. It emphasises the importance of resilience-building interventions within nursing curricula and institutional support systems to safeguard student health and professional readiness.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4102\/curationis.v49i1.2845","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]],"date-time":"2026-06-19T13:58:50Z","timestamp":1781877530000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Responding to extreme stress: Resilience and psychological distress in undergraduate nursing students in the Western Cape, South Africa"],"prefix":"10.4102","volume":"49","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7895-4483","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jennifer","family":"Chipps","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00h2vm590","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of the Western Cape"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0329-3526","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Regis R.","family":"Marie Modeste","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05bk57929","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Stellenbosch University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0008-8212","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Amanda","family":"Cromhout","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00h2vm590","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of the Western Cape"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-3262-2717","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ilze","family":"Steenkamp","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00h2vm590","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of 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