AI-powered assistant to manage stress and predict work engagement among healthcare students

Abstract

Objective: To determine the relationship between students' perception of an AI assistant for stress management and the projected work commitment of final-year university students in the health field.

Materials and Methods: Quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional study. Ninety final-year university students from a Peruvian university were selected through non-probabilistic convenience sampling. The instrument was 8-item questionnaire organized into two dimensions: confidence in the AI assistant and reduction of academic stress, and projected work commitment. A 3-point Likert scale. Content validity was estimated with Aiken's V = 0.96 and reliability with Cronbach's alpha = 0.88. Analysis included descriptive statistics and Spearman's.

Results: Between 70% and 73.3% of students reported that the AI assistant increased confidence in handling complex clinical situations and reduced the fear of making mistakes during supervised practice. In addition, 60% to 63.3% reported lower anxiety and cognitive overload. 76.7% expressed greater motivation to work in environments with technological support. A significant positive correlation was found between perceived support from the AI assistant and projected work commitment (rho = 0.63; p < 0.005).                                                                                                                                                   Conclusions: The AI assistant emerges as an academic and emotional support tool that helps manage stress and strengthens projected work commitment among university students in the health area.

Keywords: Occupational Stress; Digital health; Health Occupations Students.