“Novice nurse and novel coronavirus”—experiences of novice nurses caring for patients diagnosed with COVID‐19 in Thailand

AIMS: To explore the experiences of novice nurses caring for patients diagnosed with COVID‐19 in Thailand. DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive research. METHODS: The experiences of twelve novice nurses were explored through in‐depth interviews, telephone and video conferencing interviews. All interviews were recorded, verbatim transcribed and analysed by thematic content analysis. RESULTS: The findings fell into five main themes as follows: from novice nurses to nurse who care for COVID‐19 patients; various learning methods focused on providing care to COVID‐19 patients; work experiences and confrontations with COVID‐19; various feelings that arise when being a nurse caring for patients with COVID‐19; the power of novice nurse to bring along positive changes. CONCLUSIONS: The study provides an understanding of novice nurses’ experiences when caring for COVID‐19 patients. It also highlights the stress, fear and anxiety of novice nurses during the pandemic and suggests novice nursing practice training systems to enhance their familiarity and confidence when dealing with situations during the pandemic. The novice nurses were found to demonstrate a large amount of self‐determination and possess several technological skills and innovative abilities to improve the nursing practice and quality of care.