Exploring challenges and facilitators to E-learning based Education of nursing students during Covid-19 pandemic: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shift to e-learning and online education in educational and learning processes. Research has shown that nursing students who are satisfied with e-learning tend to have better learning outcomes. Therefore, this qualitative study aimed to explore the challenges and facilitators of e-learning for nursing students during the pandemic. METHODS: This qualitative study utilized a content analysis approach. Sixteen participants with nursing education experience were purposively selected and interviewed using a semi-structured format. The data collected were analyzed using the conventional qualitative content analysis approach. RESULTS: Through data analysis, two main categories were identified: e-learning challenges and facilitators. The e-learning challenges included subcategories such as inexperienced teachers, ineffective learning, academic cheating, system problems, and inappropriate evaluation. The facilitators included subcategories such as improving education, and promoting online exams. CONCLUSIONS: While e-learning was adopted as a substitute for in-person education during the COVID-19 pandemic, its implementation involves both challenges and facilitators. By addressing the challenges and optimizing the facilitators of e-learning, nursing schools can successfully adapt to this new mode of education in the post-pandemic era and provide high-quality education to their students. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12912-023-01430-6.