Experiences and Perceptions of Nursing Students during the COVID-19 Crisis in Spain

Abstract

In the early stages of the 2019 coronavirus pandemic in Spain, the Spanish health system was overwhelmed, mainly due to a lack of personnel, and many hospital centers collapsed by following avalanche of patients with COVID-19; this meant that the National System of Health called for fourth-year nursing students to come to the hospital as health care personnel. Our aim was to describe the perceptions and experiences of a sample of nursing students during the early stages of the outbreak. We conducted a qualitative study with an empirical-phenomenological approach. Twenty nursing students in their final year of study in Spain were recruited using purposive and snowball sampling. They participated in in-depth interviews between 20 April and 10 May 2020. The interviews were transcribed and then analyzed using Haase’s adaptation of Colaizzi’s phenomenological method. Four main themes emerged from data analysis: “social responsibility and pride as a health worker”, “pressure caused by working with COVID-19 patients”, “feeling defenseless and let down”, and “personal growth as a health worker”. These main themes were further divided into 11 theme categories. Due to an intense work day for several days in a row, the students were tired and mentally exhausted. Even so, they managed to overcome any difficulties, demonstrating their professional dedication and resilience. Greater preparatory support should be provided to safeguard the well-being of these future healthcare providers. More intensive preparatory training is necessary for health sciences students to facilitate crisis preparedness and effective crisis management. It is necessary to implement support from healthcare systems, including sufficient personal protective equipment, as well as contracts that accurately reflect the work they do. It is necessary for nursing supervisors to have effective communication in the performance of their functions with nursing students; this dialogue helps to clearly explain which are the functions that students must perform when they are carrying out their internships. There is also a need for preparatory training in managing infectious diseases such as COVID-19.

Nursing students’ clinical placement experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic: A phenomenological study

“…While using students as part of the workforce may have been risky in this context, participants appreciated feeling helpful and capitalising on the competencies and skills required in an emergency. This connects to findings reported by Rodríguez-Almagro and colleagues (2021), who noted that students felt they had grown personally and professionally ( Rodríguez-Almagro et al, 2021 ).…”

“…As to nursing students, insights into their experience during the first wave of the pandemic while attending academic courses (Masha’al Dina et al, 2020 ) or clinical placement ( Eweida et al, 2020 ) are emerging. However, studies considering the clinical practice experience while caring for Covid-19 patients ( Casafont et al, 2021 , Galvin et al, 2020 , Nabavian et al, 2021 , Rodríguez-Almagro et al, 2021 ) are scarce. To the best of our knowledge, no study has examined this experience in Italy, where the pandemic strongly hit since February 2020 and clinical placements were almost wholly suspended.…”

Practicum y práctica profesional en tiempos COVID, ¿qué hemos aprendido?

“…Otra necesidad manifestada se centra en ofrecer una capacitación preparatoria en el manejo de enfermedades infecciosas como COVID-19 en los estudiantes de enfermería; y de igual forma, se aconseja que los supervisores clínicos tengan una comunicación efecti va con los estudiantes de enfermería (Roca et al, 2021;Rodríguez-Almagro et al, 2021). Estos son aspectos a tener en cuenta en próximos cursos académicos, para enfrentarnos a un futuro incierto en el control a corto plazo de COVID-19 (Ramos-Morcillo et al, 2020).…”

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Psychosocial Coping Strategies in Health Sciences Students at the University of Seville: A Pilot Study

“…In case of the education sector, the closure of universities and institutions of higher education to contain the spread of the virus prevented the maintenance of university activities in their face-toface modality and they were specifically online [3]; however, in case of Health Sciences students of University of Seville, they had the possibility to continue their traineeship in the health institutions when the confinement ended. Some articles have been published about the impact of epidemic crises on health professionals' mental health [4] and about possible interventions to prevent potential complications [5]. However, little is known about the impact and psychosocial coping strategies of Health Sciences students, who are exposed not only to the pandemic situation but also to work-related stress, high mental burden, professional strain, moral distress, and compassion fatigue or secondary traumatic stress [6].…”

“…Some articles have been published about the impact of epidemic crises on health professionals’ mental health [ 4 ] and about possible interventions to prevent potential complications [ 5 ]. However, little is known about the impact and psychosocial coping strategies of Health Sciences students, who are exposed not only to the pandemic situation but also to work-related stress, high mental burden, professional strain, moral distress, and compassion fatigue or secondary traumatic stress [ 6 ].…”