Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Nursing Students’ Clinical Learning Experiences in British Columbia: The student perspective

Abstract

The clinical learning environment is where nursing students gain knowledge, practice skills and become socialized into the nursing profession. Traditionally, in Canada, the clinical learning environment takes place hospital and community settings. The COVID-19 pandemic required quick thinking by nursing faculty to replace on-site clinical hours. Given the quick change-over, there was minimal consideration given to nursing students' perspectives in the planning stages. This study aimed to investigate nursing students' experience in the clinical learning environment before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The perceived quality of students' learning experiences was assessed using the Clinical Learning Environment, Supervision and Nurse Teacher (CLES+T) Scale (Saarikoski et al., 2008) and open-ended questions to corroborate quantitative findings. Undergraduate baccalaureate nursing students from nine schools of nursing in British Columbia, Canada, completed an online validated survey about their different clinical learning experiences. Paired t-tests were conducted, revealing no statistically significant difference in nursing students' perceived quality of their experiences before and at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Quantitative and qualitative findings highlight the importance of the clinical instructor in nursing students’ clinical experiences. Our findings are valuable as nursing faculty continue to navigate opportunities for learning in the clinical learning environment as COVID-19 continues to evolve.