Abstract
BackgroundThe coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has implications for students who are also nurses.Purpose and MethodsThis qualitative descriptive study used a practice development approach to explore the intersection between academic and professional work experiences for undergraduate Post-Diploma Registered Practical Nurses bridging to Registered Nurse Bachelor of Science in Nursing students and Master of Nursing graduate nursing students during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study incorporated critical aesthetic reflections that focused on the personal and aesthetic ways of knowing, as a data collection approach and knowledge dissemination strategy.ResultsAnalysis of the narrative component of participants’ reflections revealed the following themes: sensing a “call to duty,” experiencing a myriad of emotions, shifting societal and individual perceptions of nursing, and learning in an uncertain environment.ConclusionsThe results of the study can inform educational strategies and academic policies to support this unique nursing population, who are frontline practitioners as well as student learners.
Highlights
The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has implications for students who are nurses
Themes that were revealed through the analysis of the cohort data from Master of Nursing degree (MN) and Post-Diploma Degree Program (PDDP) narratives include: (1) sensing a “call to duty”; (2) experiencing a myriad of emotions; (3) shifting societal and individual perceptions of nursing; and (4) learning in an uncertain environment
The thematic descriptions of the MN graduate students and PDDP undergraduate students elucidated their experiences of the intersection between their dual roles as a practicing nurse and as a student
Summary
The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has implications for students who are nurses. Nurses at different professional levels seek educational opportunities to obtain advanced credentialing; Registered Practical Nurses (RPNs) work toward a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree (BScN), while BScN Registered Nurses (RNs) study to attain a Master of Nursing degree (MN). According to Ontario provincial modeling for COVID-19 testing, the pandemic will continue until the Ontario population vaccination has reached a critical mass to achieve herd immunity. As a result, this extended trajectory creates unusual challenges and barriers for nursing students who are in the process of completing their respective nursing programs, while simultaneously maintaining their clinical practice. Learning has moved from exclusively face-to-face in class instruction to synchronous and asynchronous online learning, and clinical placements have been fundamentally modified or cancelled
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