The Relationship between the COVID-19 Pandemic and Nursing Students’ Sense of Belonging: The Experiences and Nursing Education Management of Pre-Service Nursing Professionals

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the orders and structures of societies, particularly in the fields of medical and nursing professions. The researcher aims to understand the experiences, sense of belonging, and decision-making processes about Japanese pre-service nursing students and how the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing, and lockdown has influenced their understanding as pre-service nursing professionals in Japan. As this study focuses on the issues of pre-service nursing students, the researcher invited forty-nine pre-service nursing students for a virtual interview due to the recommendation of social distancing. To increase the coverage of the population, the researcher employed snowball sampling to recruit participants from all over Japan. Although the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the overall performance of the medical and nursing professions, all participants showed a sense of belonging as Japanese citizens and nursing professionals due to the natural disaster of their country. More importantly, all expressed their desires and missions to upgrade and improve the overall performance of the public health system due to the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results discovered that many Japanese nursing students advocated that Japan’s national development, the benefits and advantages of their country, were of a greater importance than their own personal development and goals.

The Outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Social Impact on Education: Were Engineering Teachers Ready to Teach Online?

“…The social consequences of the current coronavirus situation are numerous and varied [6]. Without any doubt, the foremost is the social isolation of the population during confinement [9], although any subsequent changes to the way we are expected to interrelate are also extremely relevant, due to social distancing obligations [10] and limits on gatherings of family members and at social events [11]. These restrictions have even caused significant change in the workplace (companies, offices...) and at educational centers (schools, universities...), among others, including circulation areas and healthcare corridors, and restrictions on the use of available spaces [12].…”

Female Mechanical Engineering Students’ Career Decisions and Development: A Case Study of University Undergraduate Students

“…Over the years, researchers have merged different elements of the theory on the basis of social and occupational development. As a result, the current version of Social Cognitive Career Theory is likely to follow an edited version by (Dos Santos, 2020). The Social Cognitive Career Theory outlines three major factors that can influence individuals' career decisions: 1) Career-related interests 2) Performance and persistence in education and occupational pursuits 3) Academic and career achievements The present study was based on the Social Cognitive Career Theory (Dos Santos, 2020; Lent et al, 1994;Lent & Brown, 1996).…”

“…As a result, all declared mechanical engineering as their major and continued along that pathway. Two significant statements of feedback were captured, … I like engineering in general … but I don't know which engineering I should learn … I completed three engineering courses and the mechanical engineering about robots and machines … are interesting and useful … I think the university courses changed my mindset … (P#11, Interview) … I took foreign languages, literature, and psychology during my first term … but I like mathematics, physics, statistics, and engineering more … until I completed the mechanical engineering course … I declared my major in this, as I love robots … (P#15,Interview) In short, in accord with the guidelines of the Social Cognitive Career Theory (Dos Santos, 2020;Lent et al, 1994;Lent & Brown, 1996), the participants' previous experiences from their school environment strongly impacted and influenced these two groups of female participants' selection of a university major and their academic decisions, and particularly guided how they would explain and make sense of how they made their career decisions (Harvey et al, 2014). All believed that their experiences and interests should play more important roles than gender in their choices for a university major (Rinke, 2009).…”

Prelicensure Nursing Students’ COVID-19 Attitude Impact on Nursing Career Decision during Pandemic Threat in Taiwan: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The primary emotions and perceptions of prelicensure nursing students in the pandemic include anxiety, fear of possible infection and transmission, uneasiness and severe concern [8,14]. Conversely, for some nursing students, entering the nursing profession has been reinforced during the COVID 19 pandemic [15], or they disclosed that they would take on the risk of acquiring COVID-19 because of the health of patients and communities [16]. The nursing and medical students described their reasons for volunteering to work during the pandemic were the need for help given the current situation, moral obligation, altruistic and vocational aspects of working, humanitarianism and a sense of cooperation [8].…”