Nursing Faculty Experiences Transitioning to a Virtual DNP Residency During COVID-19

Abstract

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic created many academic challenges. Shelter in place orders forced educational institutions to move on-ground learning to an online format. This necessitated transitioning traditional in-person events such as nursing residency to a virtual occurrence. Currently, there is a paucity of research to assist with transition to the virtual environment.ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to explore faculty experiences transitioning to a virtual Doctor of Nursing Practice residency.MethodsA qualitative descriptive design was used to explore faculty experiences with virtual residency. The sample included 11 nursing faculty. Data collection consisted of answering demographic and open-ended questions through an anonymous survey.ResultsContent analysis revealed two themes: (1) Essence of Residency was Missing and (2) Virtual Residency was an Acceptable Alternative.ConclusionBased on these themes, recommendations for virtual residency improvement were identified that would be beneficial to both faculty and students, providing a better environment and enhanced virtual experience.Implications for NursingResults from this research begin building a foundation of knowledge for best practices when creating an academic nursing virtual event. Recommendations focus on ways to form a better virtual community, promote a relaxed scholarly environment, and uphold academic standards.

Nursing faculty experiences with emergent remote teaching transitions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative systematic review

“…All eight studies had qualitative data and themes as major ndings. Seven of the eight studies used a qualitative approach [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]; among these studies, two applied phenomenological qualitative methods [16,18], and one used the grounded theory approach [15]. One study involved a mixed method design with qualitative responses [21].…”

“…All eight studies were performed in regions around the United States. Hopkins et al [17] targeted nursing faculty from one university in the southwestern United States. Due to the risk of COVID-19 transmission and the restrictions of lockdown, data were collected via personal informal semi-structured interviews.…”

“…Five studies used a videoconferencing platform, and two used telephone interviews. The remaining two studies used an online survey link with open-ended questions [17,20].…”

“…Another concern that nursing faculty members commonly reported was a lack of interpersonal relationships with students and little opportunity to interact with actual patients in remote learning [16][17][18][19]22]. Participants reported that online didactic education was able to provide theoretical knowledge that allowed them to succeed academically; however, the ability to translate such knowledge into actual patient care was limited [20][21][22].…”

“…Theme 3: Acceptance of and coping with the pandemic third acceptance of and coping with the pandemic, emerged from seven studies under review. The studies demonstrated that nursing faculty understood the serious, emergent, and critical events of the COVID-19 pandemic and accepted an alternative way of teaching, i.e., remote or virtual full-time teaching [16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Moreover, they coped with their transitions in teaching strategies [18,19].…”