Nursing student challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2021: A thematic analysis

As part of program evaluation, the New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium, a consortium of 11 state-funded nursing schools, asks that students complete end-of-term surveys. In Spring 2020, a question was added to the survey to elicit challenges experienced by students during the COVID-19 pandemic: “What was the biggest challenge that you had in completing the semester/term?” This question again was asked of students in Spring 2021. Students belonging to schools in the New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium participated in the study. Eight themes were identified for each of the two years. Nursing faculty must anticipate respond to student feedback while maintaining proficiency in face-to-face and online teaching-learning strategies. Waiting until emergencies arise that require different types of pedagogy is not sufficient to ensure instructor proficiency with online pedagogies.