General health in nursing and midwifery students and its relationship with academic achievement

Due to their educational situations, medical students are more vulnerable to general health and mental disorders. Therefore, their health could lead to improving science, practice, and improving their education. This study aimed to investigate the general health in nursing and midwifery students and its relationship with their academic achievement at Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran. This was a correlational study using the census method. Participants were midwifery and nursing students who were studying at Islamic Azad University of Rasht in their second semester of academic year 2013. Data were obtained using a two parts questionnaire including demographic data and general health status based on GHQ- 28.Then data were analyzed by SPSS version 16 using descriptive and analytical statistics. The mean score and the standard deviation of general health among midwifery and nursing students were 22.85±11.22 and 48.20±10.8, respectively. There was a significant relationship between general health among midwifery and nursing students (p=0.03). However there was no significant relationship between general health and score of academic achievement in midwifery and nursing students (p>0.05). The results of this study showed that the majority of nursing and midwifery students are in a state of perfect health. Consequently, providing training and counseling are necessary to maintain and improve their level of health.