Stress and Coping Strategies of Online Nursing Practicum Courses for Taiwanese Nursing Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in significant changes in nursing education. Maintaining social distance could slow down the spread of COVID-19, and it was necessary, but it significantly reduced students’ hands-on clinical practice experience in healthcare settings. Traditional classroom teaching in schools has transitioned to distance or online learning methods, which significantly reduced students’ hands-on clinical practice experience in healthcare settings. Although distance education had been implemented for a long time, there are many problems and challenges to be resolved. The experiences and needs of nursing students in remote clinical training urgently require further understanding. Purpose: To understand the stress and coping strategies of online nursing practicum courses for Taiwanese nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A qualitative research approach with purposive sampling was supplemented by snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and the data were collected following the eight-step process outlined by Waltz, Strickland, and Lenz (2010). The participants were 12 nursing students on a two-year nursing RN-to-BSN program at a university in Eastern Taiwan, consisting of 11 females and 1 male student. Findings: The stress and coping behaviors of nursing students consist of four main themes, each with three subthemes, including “urgent changes”, “the gaps between online courses and practical operations”, “mixed feelings of joy and anxiety” and “unexpected gains”. Conclusions: The pandemic has impacted nursing students’ learning and living. Engaging in online nursing practicum brought about significant stress; nevertheless, students employed various coping strategies to navigate through this challenging period. The findings of this study would also help nursing educators understand the learning gaps in clinical practicum among students.