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Undergraduate nursing students’ resilience, challenges, and supports during corona virus pandemic
Author(s) -
Hamadeh Kerbage Samira,
Garvey Loretta,
Willetts Georgina,
Olasoji Michael
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of mental health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.911
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1447-0349
pISSN - 1445-8330
DOI - 10.1111/inm.12896
Subject(s) - thematic analysis , mental health , coping (psychology) , psychology , nursing , pandemic , covid-19 , nurse education , psychological resilience , resilience (materials science) , narrative , medical education , medicine , clinical psychology , qualitative research , social psychology , psychiatry , sociology , disease , social science , physics , linguistics , philosophy , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , thermodynamics
The coronavirus global pandemic interrupted teaching at Australian universities. Face‐to‐face teaching was replaced by online delivery. This presented challenges for nursing programmes due to the hands‐on teaching requirements and clinical placements. Questions were raised around students’ resilience and stress in the face of adversity. This study explored undergraduate nursing students’ resilience, challenges experienced, and supports utilized during the pandemic. Convenience sampling recruited students from one nursing programme ( n = 340). Quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD‐RISC‐25) examined resilience scores through non‐parametric analysis. Narrative responses were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. 121 surveys (40.3%) were completed. Most participants were from second year ( n = 77, 63.6%). The difference in median resilience scores among employed participants was statistically significant ( P = 0.029) and higher than the unemployed. The median scores of students working in nursing‐related roles were higher than others. Median resilience score across all year levels was 70 (IQR = 62–80), in the lowest score range. Major themes identified were fear of the virus, isolation, and mental health problems . The coping strategies identified were developing daily routines, staying connected, and establishing self‐help techniques . This research has implications to optimize students’ learning experience, enhance resilience, and promote mental health and well‐being.