Challenges in Nursing Education in the New Normal: Basis for Faculty Enhancement Program

Abstract

Education s vital to every Filipino especially the delivery of quality education without compromising the health and safety of the students amidst COVID 19 pandemic. With the current global health crisis and government pronouncements prohibiting the conduct of face-to-face classes both in basic education (DepEd) and Higher education (CHED). Isabela State University has decided to roll out and launched its new approach, called telEducation. It has ramped up its efforts in fully implementing flexible remote learning for its students to ease its transition to what might become the new normal for educational institutions. This study utilized a descriptive survey method of investigation to secure adequate and reliable data. The researcher used this design to gather necessary data, assess and determine the challenges facing nursing education in the new normal by the nursing faculty of Isabela State University, College of Nursing. The questionnaires were floated through the use of google forms as a platform. The respondents who participated in this study were 15 nursing faculty comprises of 7 permanent as core faculty and 8 instructors under a contract of service. This study concluded that inadequate instructor training for new normal education; limited time for the preparation of modules, exams, and other related to instruction is due to the limited time of the university administrators or concern authorities to conduct since the summer class has already implemented. The said interventions made it more difficult to conduct due to the implementing community quarantines. Furthermore, there are numerous nursing-related experiences/activities but limited time for implementation; Students find it difficult to comprehend some activities due to the absence of physical contact of the instructor/s; faculty experiencing physical problems (eg. eye strain and frontal headache) due to long hours of exposure on computer monitor or gadgets are noted concerns in relation to the delivery of instructions.
 
 Keywords: nursing education; new normal; challenges

E-learning Challenges in Nursing Education during COVID-19 Pandemic-A Narrative Review.

“…10 Students experienced various problems like lack of motivation, poor concentration and significant learning difficulties during e-learning, and found teachers are effectively implementing the online education.9 Some other challenges faced by the student nurses includes not having full internet access, having electricity issues, not familiar with joining the session, recording the session and submission of online assignments, 13 and difficulty to comprehend certain activities due to lack of contact with their instructors. 15 Half of the students expressed that they miss the classroom lessons, and in person communication with the teachers, more than half of them believe that e-learning cannot compensate the missing practical hours of training and direct involvement in patient care. 16 Among the nursing teachers 93.3% were glad to be updated with use of technology, and thought that online class allow them to save traveling time and spend time with family and reduce accidents.…”

“…13 The faculty challenges also includes inadequate instructor training for online teaching, limited time for the preparation of instructional modules, exams and other activities related to student training, and some faculty are experiencing headache and eye strain due to long term online instruction. 15 When a student gets exposure to COVID-19, they risk themselves, their family, other students, teachers and patients. Hence it is very essential to carefully design students' educational activities during this unusual and difficult times.…”

Experiences of Instructors in Online Teaching: A Phenomenological Study

“…They have inadequate training for new normal education; limited time for the preparation of modules, exams, and other related instruction due to the limited time of the concerned authorities and the implementation of community quarantines. Teachers need enough time or ample preparation to prepare the course learning materials for online teaching (Cacayan, Baua, & Alvarado, 2020). Teachers saw from their experiences that students benefited much in their online learning since learning resources are sufficiently provided.…”

“…Also, academic staff increasingly require higher levels of technical competency and proficiency on top of their regular academic workload in an online learning environment (Gillett-Swan, 2017). Instructors also experience challenges in inadequate training for new normal education; limited time for the preparation of modules, exams, and other institutional requirements related to instruction due to the limited time of the concerned authorities to conduct and due to the implementing community quarantines (Cacayan, Baua, & Alvarado, 2020).…”

“…Alternative teaching modalities such as modules, video presentations, and other offline platforms should be encouraged and utilized as supplementary materials for learning by the concerned instructor to address and minimize their long hours of exposure to gadgets. In addition, department heads should quarterly conduct webinars and limited face-to-face seminars for instructors to enhance their skills and teaching methodologies in the new normal education (Cacayan, Baua, & Alvarado, 2020).…”