ACADEMIC STRESS IS A COMMON PROBLEM AMONG NURSING STUDENTS, ESPECIALLY DURING EXAM PERIODS. THIS STUDY AIMS TO ANALYZE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVELS AND PERCEIVED ACADEMIC STRESS IN NURSING STUDENTS DURING FINAL EXAMS. A DESCRIPTIVE CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY WAS CONDUCTED WITH 43 STUDENTS. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY WAS MEASURED USING ACTIGRAPH WGT3X ACCELEROMETERS, AND ACADEMIC STRESS WAS ASSESSED WITH THE SISCO INVENTORY. DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS AND NONPARAMETRIC TESTS (MANN-WHITNEY AND KRUSKAL-WALLIS) WERE USED TO ANALYZE THE DATA. RESULTS SHOWED THAT WOMEN REPORTED SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER LEVELS OF ACADEMIC STRESS (P=.0049) AND THAT STUDENTS WITH HIGHER ACADEMIC WORKLOADS PERFORMED LESS MODERATE TO VIGOROUS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY (P<.05). SEDENTARY BEHAVIOR WAS HIGHER IN THOSE WITH LOWER STRESS LEVELS (P=.0492). THESE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT ACADEMIC STRESS MAY NEGATIVELY INFLUENCE PHYSI...