The COVID‐19 crisis in Spain has exacerbated the shortage of nursing staff to respond to increasing healthcare demands. For this reason, nursing students were requested to collaborate voluntarily as auxiliary health staff. This emergency has led to mental health problems in health professionals, hence the relevance of coping techniques. The objectives of this study were to explore the experiences and emotional responses of final‐year nursing students who volunteered to carry out healthcare relief tasks during the peak of the COVID‐19 pandemic, and to identify the coping strategies they adopted to deal with this situation. A qualitative study was conducted in the constructivist paradigm. Purposive sampling was used, and twenty‐two students participated in semi‐structured interviews, which were then content‐analysed. The study is reported using the COREQ checklist. Five themes emerged in the ‘Experiences and emotional response’ dimension (context, patients, emotions and feelings, risk of contagion, and personal satisfaction), and three themes emerged in the ‘Coping strategies’ dimension strategies in the work environment, in daily life and personal life. Although the students expressed negative emotions due to the highly complex context and lack of professional experience, they evaluated the experience positively in terms of learning and usefulness. Most notably, the students employed adaptive coping strategies to deal with the pandemic.
Aim
To explore the perception of education and professional development of final-year nursing students who carried out health relief tasks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a global health emergency. This situation has exacerbated the need for additional healthcare employees, forcing the Spanish government to incorporate volunteer nursing students as auxiliary health staff.
Design
A qualitative study framed in the constructivist paradigm.
Methods
Twenty-two students of nursing were recruited. A purposeful sampling was implemented until reaching saturation. A semi-structured interview as a conversational technique was used to collect information based on three dimensions: academic curriculum, disciplinary professional development, and patient care. Subsequently, a content analysis of the information was carried out. Three phases were followed in the data analysis process: theoretical, descriptive-analytical, and interpretive. The COREQ checklist was used to evaluate the study.
Results
The most important results are linked to the students’ professional and academic preparation, how the nurses handled the pandemic situation and the characteristics of the COVID-19 patients.
Conclusions
Students require training in order to offer holistic care to patients, adapted to the context. Participants highlight the importance of professional values and recognize a high level of competence and autonomy in nurses.
Aims and objectives
This study aimed to describe and understand the lived experiences and opinions of sub‐Saharan women living in Spain in relation to female genital mutilation.
Background
Female genital mutilation is a bloody procedure with serious consequences for the health of women and girls. Understanding mutilated women's lived experiences plays a crucial role in the management of health consequences and could help healthcare professionals to provide assistance to these women.
Design
A descriptive phenomenological study was carried out. The COREQ checklist was followed as guidance to write the manuscript.
Methods
A total of 12 in‐depth interviews were conducted. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using ATLAS.ti 9.0.
Results
Two themes with four subthemes were identified from the data analysis: 1) ‘The traumatic experience of female circumcision’ with the subthemes ‘Female mutilation is a physical and psychological torture procedure’ and ‘recognising and coping with negative emotions’; 2) ‘The fight for the eradication of female genital mutilation’ which contains the subthemes ‘the need for a real sociocultural change at the origin’ and ‘“I want to be the last”: Personal development leads to sociocultural change’.
Conclusions
Female genital mutilation was experienced by women as a very aggressive and traumatic event. It causes considerable negative emotions that last over time. Although there is a tendency to reject the practice, in women's countries of origin, there is social pressure for girls to be mutilated.
Relevance to clinical practice
Caring for women who have suffered from female genital mutilation requires awareness of the traumatic experience they underwent when they were girls. Healthcare professionals play a crucial role in eradicating female genital mutilation. Apart from education, preventive measures may include specific recommendations when girls are travelling to the country of origin and participatory action research.
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