A qualitative exploration of health student perspectives of rural and remote placements during the early stages of the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

Objective To explore health student perspectives of rural and remote placements during the early stages of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Setting Australia. Participants Allied health, nursing and medical students with a planned rural or remote placement between February and October 2020. Design Semi‐structured interviews ( n = 29) with data thematically analysed. Results Five main themes emerged from student experiences: (1) ‘Do we go? Don't we go? Like how much risk is involved?’ related to student concerns regarding acquiring and transmitting COVID‐19 on placement; (2) ‘We are sort of just standing at the door trying to watch’ encompassed student perceptions of missed clinical learning opportunities in response to health and safety measures related to COVID‐19; (3) ‘I, as a student, sort of fell under the radar’ related to student perceptions of suboptimal supervision; (4) ‘It was a bit more difficult to engage with that wider community’ recognised student feelings of social disconnection and their lack of opportunity for community immersion; and (5) ‘We felt like we got something that is more than we expected’ emerged from student reflections on training during the pandemic and alternative placements (virtual, simulated and non‐clinical) that exceeded expectations for learning. Conclusions Although most students were willing and able to undertake their rural or remote placement in some form during the early stages of the pandemic and identified unanticipated learning benefits, students recognised lost opportunities to build clinical skills, become culturally aware and connect with rural communities. It remains unknown how these rural and remote placement experiences will impact rural intention and in turn, rural workforce development.

An exploration of mental health, stress and well‐being concerns among health students undertaking rural placements in Australia during the early stages of the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…17 Students were more likely to report mental health, stress and well-being concerns during the early stages of the pandemic if they also had concerns about a lack of clinical training due to the pandemic, not being able to graduate on time or their financial situation. This demonstrates that the concerns students voiced during the early stages of the pandemic regarding the sufficiency of their placement experiences and course progression, [4][5][6]14,18 and increased financial stress 8,18 are linked to poor mental health and well-being.…”

“…Loneliness has been linked with poor mental health, and the COVID‐19 pandemic had a profound impact on feelings of isolation and loneliness in the general Australian population during its emergence 19 . In Australia, the early COVID‐19 public health response included restrictions to reduce social interactions to limit the spread; these public health orders prevented students on rural placements from moving around the local area, restricted duties and social activities during the placement, and meant students were often alone in student accommodation 6 . Even in nonpandemic times, many health students on rural placements are removed from their social supports and likely experience feelings of isolation and loneliness due to this, ensuring students are able engage with the rural community and placement could mitigate some of these concerns 6,13 .…”

“…This study is part of a larger project that aimed to capture the perspectives of nursing, allied health and medical students who had a planned UDRH-facilitated rural or remote placement in 2020. 4,6,8 The larger study employed a convergent mixed methods approach, 15 comprising an online survey and semistructured interviews. This study only presents the cross-sectional quantitative data from the online survey.…”

“…Unfortunately, the emergence of the COVID‐19 pandemic in 2020 was a time of great uncertainty for students on a rural health placement, with many students experiencing disruptions to their placements and increased stressors, including less client contact, an inability to gain and practice clinical skills, difficulties attaining adequate supervision, financial stress and feelings of social isolation 4–8 . During this time, students voiced concern about these issues, 6 but also noted the positive impact of support strategies 5 . Little is known about how these factors might have influenced student mental health, stress and well‐being while on a rural placement 9 …”

“…The available evidence suggests that immersive and positive training experiences in rural settings contribute to future rural practice 1–3 . Unfortunately, the emergence of the COVID‐19 pandemic in 2020 was a time of great uncertainty for students on a rural health placement, with many students experiencing disruptions to their placements and increased stressors, including less client contact, an inability to gain and practice clinical skills, difficulties attaining adequate supervision, financial stress and feelings of social isolation 4–8 . During this time, students voiced concern about these issues, 6 but also noted the positive impact of support strategies 5 .…”