Publication
Resilience levels in paramedic students: a cross-sectional study
Publisher:
Emerald
Date:
10-09-2021
DOI:
10.1108/IJES-09-2020-0056
Abstract: Paramedics responding to emergencies have proven to have an impact on their mental health and well-being. Therefore, measuring and initiating resilience promotion and development during the educational process could promote health in this group. This study aims to cross-sectionally examine the self-reported resilience levels of bachelor paramedic students at a large Australian university. A cross-sectional study using a convenience s le of first-, second- and third-year bachelor paramedic students was used from a large Australian university. The student’s resilience was measured using the 25-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) during 2019. Two-hundred and twenty-nine students participated in the study, of which 55% were females. The total mean score for the CD-RISC was 72.6 [standard deviation (SD) = 13.2). The CD-RISC mean score of the first-, second- and third-year levels were 75.3 (SD = 13.2), 70.5 (SD = 14.4) and 73.8 (SD = 10.4), respectively, with no significant statistical difference ( p -value = 0.1) and of which the second year formed the major s le (44.5%). Additionally, our findings show no significant variation in the CD-RISC mean score between males [70.8 (SD = 12.9)] and females [74.1 (SD = 13.3)], with p -value = 0.09. The study findings suggest that paramedic students have moderate levels of self-reported resilience. These results, while specific to one university, provide essential data for the paramedic profession in addressing an important issue facing all paramedics around the world.