ABSTRACT
Readiness of nurses to respond to disasters has become paramount with the advent and sequelae of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 report calls for nurses to be knowledgeable in preparing and responding to disaster management. In New Mexico, five associate degree nursing programs and three university nursing programs collaborated to develop a novel project in teaching disaster preparedness using COVID-19 as the disaster. Tabletop methodology via Zoom was used to simulate incident command centers in Zoom breakout rooms. Students were assigned roles to carry out during the four-hour event using resources from FEMA's Emergency Management Institute. Student and faculty post-surveys were completed with themes identified. Students appreciated collaborating with students from different schools, but also identified challenges with the event posed by remote learning. Students reported their "biggest takeaways" and identified action steps for improving future events; particularly, requesting more information to better understand their roles.
ABSTRACT
Background: As part of program evaluation, the New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium, a consortium of eleven state-funded nursing schools, asks that students complete end-of-term surveys. In Spring 2020, a question was added to the survey to elicit challenges experienced by students during the COVID-19 pandemic: "What was the biggest challenge that you had in completing the semester/term?" This question again was asked of students in Spring 2021. Objectives: To determine challenges faced by nursing students in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. Design: Qualitative. Settings: Eleven state-funded nursing schools belonging to the New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium. Participants: Students enrolled in member nursing programs. Methods: Braun and Clarke's 2006 thematic analysis. Results: Eight themes were identified for each of the two years. Conclusions: Nursing faculty must anticipate and respond to student feedback while maintaining proficiency in face-to-face and online teaching-learning strategies. Waiting until emergencies arise that require different types of pedagogy is not sufficient to ensure instructor proficiency with online pedagogies.
ABSTRACT
Background: The public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in mental and psychological ramifications on the healthcare professionals. The pre-licensure nursing students found themselves not only fighting against the baneful virus but also weak ego resilience. At this point, enriching the pre-licensure nursing students with psychological first aid (PFA) could help them to recover from the feeling of psychological distress and improve their resilience capacity to encounter any upcoming outbreaks. Methods: A quasi-experimental two groups, a pre-post-test study was used in which sixty-four pre-licensure nursing students completed a baseline survey which revealed high levels of psychological distress and low resilience capacity due to the COVID-19 crisis. The study group engaged in the Psychological First- aid Intervention (PFA) at the end of the clinical practicum course period, while the comparison group received routine psychological support. Results: A significant reduction in the psychological distress levels among students in the PFA group (FET=7.83, P = 0. 001). Likewise, significant improvements in the students' resilience capacity level immediately after the intervention (FET=3.34, P = 0.019) and during the two-month follow-up (FET=12.94, P = 0. 001). The implementation of PFA enhanced the pre-licensure nursing students' psychological health status and resilience capacity levels after their clinical training amid the ambiance of the COVID-19 crisis. Conclusion: The PFA effectively fostered the pre-licensure nursing students' recovery from the COVID-19 related- psychological distress and improve their resilience capacity. The application of RAPID model is recommended to reduce stress and prevent burnout among novice and future nurses who show signs of psychological exhaustion.
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of undergraduate, prelicensure nursing students, in a public university in the Northeast, utilizing brief mindfulness interventions as a method of coping with the anxiety associated with high fidelity patient simulation (HFPS) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fifty-seven students enrolled in an original pre-test post-test quantitative study, utilizing the State-Trait Anxiety inventory to assess the possible correlation between Koru mindfulness minutes practiced and anxiety associated with HFPS. In March of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had a sudden, profound effect on nursing education resulting in face-to-face classes being converted to online formats, and simulation and clinical education converting to virtual learning. At the same time, participation in the brief mindfulness interventions dropped and the researcher pivoted to exploring qualitative responses from participants. The researcher recruited 16 of the 57 students, who had agreed to be in the original study, to respond to written questions designed to capture their perceptions of the utility of brief mindfulness interventions in coping with the anxiety associated with HFPS during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their written responses were coded, categorized, and themes emerged related to the two research questions: What are the perceptions of undergraduate nursing students regarding brief mindfulness interventions? How has COVID-19 impacted the use of mindfulness interventions? Responses revealed that participants' perceived value in learning and utilizing brief mindfulness strategies to manage anxiety. Subthemes included perceived value related to HFPS, and perceived value related to being a prelicensure nursing student. Participants expressed feeling overwhelmed related to curricular changes, social changes, and fear. A second theme emerged related to coping strategies utilized during this time. These promising results indicate that brief mindfulness interventions have the potential to be a tool for prelicensure students to utilize in managing the anxiety associated with various aspects of the nursing curriculum. The practical implications for integrating these findings into a pre-licensure nursing curriculum are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)