Nursing Students’ Clinical Practice Experience during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is putting clinical practice in all nursing schools to the challenge. While students should be cautious of infection, they still need to practice in a hospital setting. AIM: The purpose of this study is to gain insight into students’ clinical experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This study employed a qualitative methodology and a phenomenological approach. A purposive sampling technique was used to recruit seven clinical nursing students. We conducted semi-structured interviews until the data were saturated. Data were analyzed with thematic analysis to identify and describe the patterns. RESULTS: Five major themes emerged from students’ clinical practice experience during the COVID-19 pandemic: Psychological response, obtained support, inconvenient experience, positive side, and coping. CONCLUSION: The findings suggested that nursing school must address the difficulties students perceive, as clinical practice learning will almost certainly change in the following years due to the epidemic.