The lived experience of nursing students caring for COVID-19 patients

Abstract

Background and objective: As the wave of COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, schools and students were affected in many ways. Schools had to migrate courses to an online or hybrid platform while students had to adapt their learning to take care of COVID-19 patients in the clinical setting. Caring for COVID-19 patients in the hospital setting provided the students with big challenges, and it became essential for faculty members to understand the students’ feelings and obstacles as the semester continued.

Methods: Utilizing a phenomenological framework, a qualitative descriptive study was performed to determine the lived experience of student nurses caring for COVID-19 patients.

Results: Four main themes emerged from the study, which included 1) Importance of a support system, 2) Moral distress, 3) Enhancement of clinical skills, and 4) Significance of therapeutic communication.

Conclusions: Based on the themes, four recommendations were identified to help students and faculty, which included 1) The value of simulation, 2) Development of a support system, 3) Collaborative preceptorship, and 4) Preparation for a new era.