From disobedience to struggle for adaptation: ​​nursing students’ experiences of attending the clinical learning environment during Covid-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the clinical education of nursing students all over the world. Considering the importance of clinical education and clinical learning environment (CLE) in the education of nursing students, identifying the challenges and problems faced by these students during the covid-19 pandemic helps to plan more effectively in this regard. The aim of this study was to investigate the experiences of nursing students in CLEs during the Covid-19 pandemic. METHODS: A descriptive qualitative research was conducted, which used a purposive sampling technique to recruit 15 undergraduate nursing students from Shiraz University of Medical Sciences between July 2021 and September 2022. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews. For data analysis, conventional qualitative content analysis based on Graneheim and Lundman approach was used. RESULTS: The data analysis led to emergence of two themes of “disobedience " and “struggle for adaptation”. The disobedience theme consists of two categories: “objection to attend CLE” and “patient marginalization”. The theme of struggle for adaptation includes two categories: “using support sources” and “applying problem-oriented strategies”. CONCLUSION: At the beginning of the pandemic, the students were unfamiliar due to the disease, as well as fear of contracting themselves and infecting others, so they tried not to be in the clinical environment. However, they gradually tried to adapt to the existing conditions by applying support resources and using problem-oriented strategies. Policymakers and educational planners can use the results of this study to plan for solving the challenges of students during future pandemics and improve the condition of CLE.