Salutogenesis and COVID-19 pandemic impacting nursing education across SEANERN affiliated universities: A multi-national study

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of many. Particularly, nursing students experience greater stress as their normal curriculum is interrupted and some of them face the risk of being infected as frontline workers. Nursing faculty members may face similar struggles, in addition to developing teaching materials for online learning. Thus, it is important to examine the faculty members' and students' views on their ability to adapt during the pandemic to obtain a holistic view of how learning and training has been affected. Design The descriptive cross-sectional quantitative design was used. Settings Data were collected from Southeast and East Asian Nursing Education and Research Network (SEANERN) affiliated nursing institutions from January 2021 to August 2021. Participants A total of 1897 nursing students and 395 faculty members from SEANERN-affiliated nursing institutions in Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam were recruited for this study. Methods Quantitative surveys were used to explore the satisfaction levels in education modalities, confidence levels, psychosocial well-being, sense of coherence and stress levels of nursing students and faculty members during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results Participants were mostly satisfied with the new education modalities, although most students felt that their education was compromised. Both groups showed positive levels of psychosocial well-being, despite scoring low to medium on the sense of coherence scale and experiencing great stress. The participants' sense of coherence was positively correlated with their psychosocial well-being and negatively correlated with stress levels. Conclusions While the COVID-19 pandemic had negatively impacted the lives of nursing students and faculty members, most of them had a healthy level of psychosocial well-being. Having a strong sense of coherence was associated with better psychosocial health and lower stress levels. As such, it may be helpful to develop interventions aimed at improving the sense of coherence of nursing students and staff to help them manage stressors better.

Trauma and survivance: The impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on Indigenous nursing students

“…These findings echo those of studies across the globe suggesting a common experience regardless of race or ethnicity (Cengiz et al, 2022 ; Fitzgerald & Konrad, 2021 ; Heilferty et al, 2021 ; Wallace et al, 2021 ; Yazici & Ökten, 2022 ). However, while other studies have documented mild to moderate levels of student anxiety and fear during the pandemic (Shorey et al, 2022 ; Yazici & Ökten, 2022 ), students in this study described more severe experiences of anxiety and psychological distress emphasizing the need for more comprehensive and mental health assessments and resources in nursing education.…”

Students’ Emotions During Distance Education: The Role of Personality Factors and Sense of Coherence

“…It was assumed that a person with a high Sense of Coherence would find meaning also in the COVID-19 distancing, understand its necessity, and manage one's life in the new situation. In earlier studies, SOC has been related to lower levels of COVID-19 pandemic related to stress, anxiety, and depression among students (Li et al, 2021;Misamer et al, 2021;Shorey et al, 2022). In addition, SOC seems to reduce COVID-19 related fears among teachers (Padmanabhanunni et al, 2022) and help to adjust to the post-covid face-to-face education (Li et al, 2021).…”

“…SOC includes three interrelated components: Comprehensibility (i.e., seeing life as understandable), Manageability (i.e., feeling of having resources and skills to cope with stressful events in life), and Meaningfulness (i.e., seeing life as worthy and full of motivation). Earlier studies conducted in educational settings have found that a high Sense of Coherence is related lower COVID-19 related depression, anxiety, and stress among college students (Li et al, 2021; Shorey et al, 2022). Especially the sense of meaningfulness seems to be an important protective factor among students (Misamer et al, 2021) and teachers (Padmanabhanunni et al, 2022).…”

Transformation of the learning system in nursing education after the COVID-19 pandemic

“…3 Even before the pandemic, some literature has uncovered themes related to student challenges to online learning, including technological barriers, student/instructor communication barriers, and difficulties in engaging students. 4 Nursing students are currently in the midst of experiencing a profound transition from in-person learning to online learning that requires them to incorporate new knowledge and change their behavior. Transition theory is explained by 5 as a college nursing education center requires new knowledge, changing behavior, and even changing self-definition.…”