Impact of Internet Addiction on Academic Achievement among Undergraduate Nursing Students

Abstract

Internet addiction (IA) has become a relatively new field of academic inquiry and it has an effect on a person's life in many aspects such as academic achievement, relationships, physical and mental health. The study aimed to describe the impact of internet addiction on academic achievement among undergraduate nursing students and identify preventive strategies to decrease harm from IA. Research Design: Descriptive research design was utilized in the current study. The Study Sample: Convenient sample of 260 undergraduate nursing students were the participants of this study who studying in the third year, faculty of nursing, Sohag University and El Fayoum University on March 2019. Tools: There were three tools used in the current study as the following: socio-demographic sheet, Young’s internet addiction scale and academic achievement sheet. Results: (53.75%) of the students were female, the mean age of them was 19.48 ± 1.68 years. 50% of the students spent 3-5 daily times on internet among students. There were an association between the internet addiction and academic performance. (89%) of students agree to improve the awareness about internet addiction and its effects among students through holding classes as preventive strategies to decrease harm from IA. Conclusion: It was concluded that excessive internet usage is one of the major activities seen among undergraduate nursing students which can lead into addiction and affect their personal, social and academic performance. Recommendation: Health care providers should be aware with the possible negative effect of internet addiction and internet usage needed to be controlled and may affect negatively on the academic achievement of students.