Abstract
Abstract: Test anxiety and attrition are prevalent in nursing programs. Efforts should be made to assist nursing students in obtaining coping mechanisms to reduce anxiety. The aim of this quantitative, quasi-experimental, before and after study was to determine the impact of a cognitive-behavioral intervention on test anxiety during first-semester nursing courses. Thirty bachelor of science in nursing students in a rural university participated in a cognitive-behavioral intervention and completed the Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale. A two-tailed, dependent-samples t-test determined a statistically significant decrease in test anxiety scores (p < .001), supporting interventions aimed at reducing both the physical and mental effects of test anxiety.