Relationship between the use of psychoactive substances and the quality of life of nursing students

Aim: To analyse the relationship between the use of psychoactive substances and the quality of life of nursing students. Method: Quantitative/Qualitative study conducted between November 2017 and April 2018 with 77 undergraduate nursing students from a public university in the southeast of Brazil. The data was collected through a questionnaire prepared by the authors containing questions regarding social and demographic characterisation, training, emotional situation and use of psychoactive substances, as well as the application of the WHOQOL-BREF instrument, in order to evaluate quality of life and interviews. The analysis was performed in a descriptive manner, through simple frequencies, percentage and central tendency. For the association and level of significance of the use of psychoactive substances and quality of life, t-Student and Mann-Whitney tests and Content Analysis were used. Results: 80.5% of the students reported using a psychoactive substance at least once in their lives. The Physical and Social domains of Quality of Life presented better results, while the Environmental and Psychological domains exhibited lower scores. Psychoactive substances, especially legal ones, are negatively related to the quality of life. Final considerations: The nursing student is constantly exposed to critical situations of suffering and stress, which impacts on their quality of life, making strategies to stimulate it necessary.