ABSTRACT
Background: Care in a crisis, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, might entail moral challenges for nursing students. Aim: The aim of this study was to gain knowledge of nursing students' experiences of moral challenges arising when caring for patients in clinical placement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study has a qualitative design with individual interviews of nine nursing students. Data were analysed using the six-step model of thematic analysis. Findings: The students' experienced moral challenges when caring for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three themes were defined: The double fear of infection, mixed feelings of being a "hero" and an "over-worked pushover" and compromising on basic knowledge and values. Conclusion: The findings described the students' experiences of morally challenging situations that arose when caring for patients during COVID-19 pandemic. The students were drawn between feelings of being appreciated and needed and feelings of being powerless.
ABSTRACT
The use of digital and remote teaching has expanded in higher education and reached a peak during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reducing the social component of the learning process may increase students' isolation, loneliness, and dropout rates. This study aimed to investigate the experiences of student peer mentors who participated in a mentoring program that was implemented to increase student well-being and prevent dropping out among first-year Bachelor of Nursing students at a university in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eleven semi-structured interviews were carried out with student peer mentors. Using a thematic analysis, four themes were identified: being someone who can ease the transition, defining roles and boundaries, developing communication strategies, and developing their own professional competence. Knowing how difficult the transition to higher education was and being a student during the COVID-19 pandemic made it challenging for the mentors to set boundaries. It was also challenging to develop effective ways to communicate with the first-year students. Being a mentor was considered beneficial for developing professional skills such as empathy and communication and to gain self-confidence. There is a need for more knowledge about how to support mentors in clarifying the peer mentoring role, setting boundaries, and coping with the emotional labor involved in peer mentoring. © 2023 by the authors.