Background:
To understand family nurse practitioner (FNP) students' academic experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, faculty developed an online reflective discussion board assignment. The richness of the responses prompted faculty to gather data and analyze themes.
Method:
The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perspectives of FNP students regarding the impact of COVID-19 on their academic experience. Participants were asked to answer four open-ended questions in a discussion board to address the research question. Responses of consenting students were analyzed qualitatively using open, axial, and selective coding.
Results:
Four main themes emerged: worry and fear, cyclical stress, mitigation of stress, and personal growth of resilience and empathy. Students emphasized that faculty support strategies mitigated stress and anxiety.
Conclusion:
Understanding students' experience is crucial to facilitating academic success. Faculty in similar situations could better support their students through clear communication, and providing flexibility and opportunities for self-reflection.
[
J Nurs Educ
. 2021;60(8):449–452.]
In this research brief, researchers used a quantitative method, descriptive design, and cross-sequential grouping to investigate changes in empathy of pre-professional healthcare students over the course of their degree programs. Changes in empathy occurred; however, changes did not measure as statistically significant. Empathy overall increased; it decreased for certain majors and increased for others. The importance of empathy in the healthcare arena points to a need for specific efforts by educators toward increasing student empathy throughout these programs of study. This study showed that empathy is being maintained, but only just barely, over the course of these programs.
As health care organizations, accrediting bodies, and research support and promote interprofessional approaches for treatment programs, an introduction to interprofessional education and practice should occur during pre-professional education for this practice to become habit. This paper looks at applying these principles to pre-professional behavioral health student participants in nursing, recreation therapy, psychology, and social work through an interprofessional simulated group therapy experience. While the main objective of this project was to create an interprofessional experience for mental/behavioral health participants, the study also aimed to build an affinity for working within an interprofessional team and to develop empathy for individuals living with a mental/behavioral health diagnosis. All students acknowledged the benefits of empathy and collaborative affinity for both the team and consumers, and expressed concern about the lack of interprofessional learning within pre-professional programs.
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