Nursing Students’ Clinical Practice Experience during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is putting clinical practice in all nursing schools to the challenge. While students should be cautious of infection, they still need to practice in a hospital setting. AIM: The purpose of this study is to gain insight into students’ clinical experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This study employed a qualitative methodology and a phenomenological approach. A purposive sampling technique was used to recruit seven clinical nursing students. We conducted semi-structured interviews until the data were saturated. Data were analyzed with thematic analysis to identify and describe the patterns. RESULTS: Five major themes emerged from students’ clinical practice experience during the COVID-19 pandemic: Psychological response, obtained support, inconvenient experience, positive side, and coping. CONCLUSION: The findings suggested that nursing school must address the difficulties students perceive, as clinical practice learning will almost certainly change in the following years due to the epidemic.

The Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Hong Kong Nursing Students’ Mental Health and Quality of Life

“…In facing such an emerging infectious disease, nursing students’ high fear levels and fear of losing their lives were understandable, as they were beginners in the healthcare profession who did not have experience handling similar situations. The literature showed that the students’ fear of COVID-19 was predominantly related to an insufficient supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), a lack of disaster knowledge and competency in responding to the pandemic [ 48 , 49 ], and the perceived risk of getting infected and transmitting the disease to others or their families [ 49 , 50 ].…”

“…Although this study found insignificant negative correlations between the FCV-19S and DASS-21, the literature indicated that inadequate PPE supply and fear of getting infected significantly correlated with a high anxiety level among nursing students [ 51 ]. The students appreciated the opportunity to care for COVID-19 patients in hospitals; however, they were also stressed and afraid [ 48 ]. Nursing students thought they were unprepared and incapable of handling complicated clinical situations during the pandemic [ 52 ].…”

“…However, there were no significant differences related to emotional states on the DASS21 ( p = 0.294–0.931) among these two groups. Nursing students might fear contracting the disease and transmitting it to their family, maintain social distance from family members and friends, and worry about the delay in graduation [ 48 , 49 , 54 ], which may adversely impact their mental health, quality of life, and wellbeing. Furthermore, De Los Santos et al (2021) [ 45 ] found that students’ fear of the COVID-19 pandemic correlated with their intention to quit their nursing studies, which may further aggregate the inadequate professional workforce for the pandemic and future public health emergencies.…”

Clinical Field and Alternative Clinical Practice Experience in a Pandemic Situation of Nursing Students Who Have Experienced Clinical Practice before COVID-19

“…Even if clinical site practice is fully resumed in the post-corona era, it is worth using alternative clinical practice as a supplement. Even though there are learning goals that students must achieve in the clinical setting, it is not possible to experience and learn everything during clinical practice [ 15 ]. A previous study [ 2 ] recommended including simulation in the clinical practice curriculum to reduce the instability of clinical practice and provide stable, practical education.…”

“…Publications on domestic and foreign qualitative research methods related to the clinical practice of nursing students in the current COVID-19 situation were published on clinical field practice experience [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ], online clinical practice experience [ 4 , 17 , 18 ], virtual reality-based simulation clinical practice experience in one subject [ 6 ], online clinical practice and in-school clinical practice experience [ 19 ]. Clinical practice experience in clinical field practice or alternative clinical practices was limited in each partial aspect.…”