Race, gender, and ethnicity differences of nursing students' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: The coronavirosus disease caused physical, mental, and social stress to humans; however, the human impact was not balanced and proportionately distributed to all people; especially nurses. This study explored nursing students' lives affected by the pandemic. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of COVID-19 and the pandemic on students' experiences across different races, genders, and ethnicities. METHOD: This cross-sectional study sought to investigate significant differences in reported experiences of nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic based upon race, gender, and ethnicity classifications. A survey was developed to collect the data. RESULTS: A national sample of 616 student responses was analyzed. Significant differences were found in the pairwise comparisons. The differences found among the diverse student classifications revealed variations in survey responses to classes moved to on-line, interactions with peers, COVID-19 testing, fear/anxiety, and test performance. CONCLUSION: The research adds knowledge about nursing students' experiences during the pandemic; especially unrepresented students from diverse backgrounds. The findings from this study suggested nursing students reacted differently based on race, ethnicity, and gender.