Social Support Affecting Personal Health Practices among Nursing Students

Abstract

Nursing students are trained to promote healthy practices among clients but it does not necessarily mean that they are applying it to themselves. As healthcare providers, nursing students offer support to clients in the promotion of healthy lifestyle. However, there is limited literature exploring the types of social support that nursing students have and its relationship to personal health practices. The purpose of this study was to determine personal health practices among nursing students and its relationship to social support. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 163 nursing students from two universities in Cavite and Pasay and selected using purposive sampling. They answered self-report questionnaires including the perceived social support scale and personal health practices. Data were analyzed by statistical tests of Spearman Rank correlation coefficient. The results revealed a high level of social support with a mean of 3.78(SD = 0.62) and moderate personal health practices with a mean of 3.15 (SD = 0.31). Although there is no significant relationship between the general perceived social support and personal health practices, emotional support showed a positive relationship with personal health practices (p = 0.004). Students’ score in health practices does not differ significantly considering gender, but significant differences are found when age is considered (p = 0.01).