Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has severely influenced various aspects of human life, particularly education. This study aimed to explain the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nursing education from administrators, educators, and students’ perspectives. Methods This qualitative study with a conventional content analysis approach was conducted from June to October 2020 at a nursing school in Tehran. Thirteen participants were enrolled using purposive sampling. Data collection was through in-depth and semi-structured interviews and continued until reaching data saturation. Nursing administrators, educators, and students constructed interviews to understand nursing education changes during the pandemic. All interviews were recorded, transcribed, reviewed, coded, and analyzed using the Graneheim and Lundman methods. Results Interviewed respondents included administrators and professors (n = 6) and nursing students (n = 7). The respondents reported five main topic areas: (1) safe management in ambiguous situations; (2) perceived situations; (3) adaptive coping; (4) educational facilitators and challenges, and (5) continuing education in an uncertain context. The central theme was “close conflict of education with COVID-19”. Conclusions The current study noted instability and challenges placed on nursing education during the pandemic. Opportunities were addressed during the pandemic to improve the nursing training process using planning, scientific management, emerging technology, innovative educational opportunities, and comprehensive support from institutional stakeholders. Clear guidelines and recommendations are needed to ensure medical education safety during the pandemic.

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Education in medical sciences, including nursing, has encountered numerous challenges following the worldwide outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Additionally, students’ satisfaction with the methods of instruction can be accompanied by improved learning outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the nursing students’ satisfaction with the quality of courses (SQC) and satisfaction with virtual learning (SVL) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study was conducted at a nursing school (105 nursing students) in Tehran,Iran, in the first semester of 2020-2021. The individual characteristics questionnaire, the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ), and the e-Learning Satisfaction Questionnaire (e-LSQ) were used for data collection. More than 88% of the nursing students were satisfied with the quality of the courses. The level of SVL in 57.1% of them was moderate. Among the individual variables, only the academic semester was regarded as a predictor of SQC (p=0.025). There was no significant relationship between the dimensions and the total score of CEQ with students’ academic achievement (p<0.05). Additionally, all the CEQ dimensions were significant predictors of the nursing students’ SQC (p<0.001). Given the unknown time of eradicating COVID-19, it is necessary to adopt appropriate policies and perform proper planning to continue better nursing education and increase student satisfaction.

Background: The most important responsibilities of an education system are to create self-directed learning opportunities and develop the required skills for taking the responsibility for change. The present study aimed at determining the impact of a learning contract on self-directed learning and satisfaction of nursing students. Methods: A total of 59 nursing students participated in this experimental study. They were divided into six 10-member groups. To control the communications among the groups, the first 3 groups were trained using conventional learning methods and the second 3 groups using learning contract method. In the first session, a pretest was performed based on educational objectives. At the end of the training, the students in each group completed the questionnaires of self-directed learning and satisfaction. The results of descriptive and inferential statistical methods (dependent and independent t tests) were presented using SPSS. Results: There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in gender, grade point average of previous years, and interest toward nursing. However, the results revealed a significant difference between the 2 groups in the total score of self-directed learning (p= 0.019). Although the mean satisfaction score was higher in the intervention group, the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: This study suggested that the use of learning contract method in clinical settings enhances self-directed learning among nursing students. Because this model focuses on individual differences, the researcher highly recommends the application of this new method to educators.

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