Nursing student experiences of remote learning during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

Background The emergence of the COVID‐19 pandemic resulted in a sudden transition to remote learning. These circumstances presented many challenges for higher education faculty and students around the world but especially for nursing education programs which are traditionally conducted in a face‐to‐face learning environment that includes hands‐on experiential learning. Methods Guided by Meleis' Transition Theory, a qualitative descriptive design was utilized to explore prelicensure nursing students’ experiences of the transition to remote learning during the Spring 2020 semester. Participants were recruited from one baccalaureate program in the Pacific Northwestern United States. Interviews were conducted and transcribed using a web conferencing platform. Data were analyzed using Colaizzi's phenomenological reduction. Results Eleven students participated. Interviews revealed four overarching themes: technological challenges, academic relationship changes, role stress and strain, and resilience. Conclusion The sudden transition to remote learning resulted in a number of challenges for nursing students. Despite these challenges, students demonstrated a remarkable sense of resilience and perseverance. Faculty have an opportunity to address student stressors and design remote courses in such a way to facilitate student engagement and community building.

Resilience as a mediator in the relationship between stress-associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being in student nurses: A cross-sectional study

“…International studies have demonstrated that, in addition to psychological distress, student nurses also suffered from other psychological problems during the pandemic, including emotional and social loneliness, post-traumatic stress disorder, emotional exhaustion, depression and fatigue ( Grande et al, 2021 , Savitsky et al, 2020 , Labrague et al, 2021 ). Stress associated with distance learning and the abrupt shift to online learning were also seen to contribute to mental and psychological issues in student nurses ( Wallace et al, 2021 , Masha'al et al, 2020 ). In a broad review by Majrashi et al (2021) , stress that stemmed from distance learning was identified as the top stressor among student nurses during the coronavirus pandemic, followed by heavy workload and extreme fear of the virus.…”

Nurse faculty perceptions of readiness for practice among new nurses graduating during the pandemic

“…Nursing education is unique in that it is primarily offered in-person, with a reliance on hands-on learning ( Michel et al, 2021 ; Wallace et al, 2021 ). When the COVID-19 pandemic began in Spring 2020, nursing programs had to rapidly shift from in-person to remote learning due to infection fears and limited personal protective equipment (PPE).…”

Teaching Style, Coping Strategies, Stress and Social Support: Associations to the Medical Students’ Perception of Learning during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

“…Part of these perceptions and relationships are already described in very recent literature regarding academic adjustment in the pandemic [48][49][50][51][52][53]. Still, one should notice that this is a very new research field, with a lot of space for investigation.…”