The solitary and uncertain learning process: A qualitative study of nursing students' experiences in the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic

When the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic broke out, the nursing students clinical practice period was abruptly interrupted by the lock down. The present study aimed to investigate the nursing students' learning experiences during the initial phase of the pandemic. A qualitative study was conducted investigating nursing students' written assignments (n = 48) of reflections according to their learning process. The qualitative data analysis revealed three main themes, namely the solitary and uncertain learning process; from collective learning process to digital devices; additional learning outcomes. The students' anxiety about the virus affected their motivation to study, but they also expressed enthusiasm and gratitude for having the opportunity to learn about the health system in a time of crisis. These results point towards the health care authorities can rely on nursing students' ability to take part and cover important emergency functions. The use of technology helped the students to achieve their learning objectives.

Fighting the waves; Covid-19 family life interference in a neurodevelopmental disorder-caregiver population

Introduction

The current COVID-19 pandemic interferes with family lives across the world, particularly families of children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) are at a greater risk for being negatively impacted by the pandemic. Together with representatives from this caregiver population the aim was to explore the interference associated with normal family life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method

This is a descriptive study using a cross-sectional design. Following a strategic network sampling strategy, a user-developed national survey was completed by a larger sample (N = 1,186) of parents and informal caregivers of children with NDDs. The survey utilized a combination of both closed and open-ended questions, and a logistic regression analysis was carried out to assess the association between family characteristics, characteristics of the child, and COVID-19 related family life interference. Before carrying out the regression an inductive content analysis of the open-ended question on `How has the isolation affected the family´ was carried out to construct the outcome variable.

Results

The initial analysis indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic induced a shift in everyday family life and a lack of guidance and support related to managing the challenges they were facing. Caregivers who reported that COVID-19 had significantly interfered with their family life, were more likely to report having anxious children, and to have experienced an increased number of conflicts at home. The logistic regression showed that both anxious children and increased conflicts considerably increased the risk for reporting family life interference compared to those that reported no increased conflicts or anxious children.

Discussion

Considering how the COVID-19 related increased conflicts at home and anxious children threaten the family life of the NDD caregiver population, as an external source of family stress, which might lead to negative impact on their mental and physical well-being, the need for further research in collaboration with user representatives is apparent. Our study suggests that more information should be provided to healthcare providers, social professionals, peers, people with NDDs, and caregivers of people with NDDs about the potential threats that a stressful life event such as the current pandemic can pose to their mental and physical health and their family life.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-022-07836-3.

Students' top 10 priorities of research uncertainties on students' sleep: a pragmatic James Lind Alliance approach

OBJECTIVES

Inspired by the James Lind Alliance (JLA) user involvement approach, the aim of the present study was to identify the top 10 uncertainties for sleep research raised by students in higher education, and to discuss our experiences with adapting the JLA method to a student population.

DESIGN

The study design is a pragmatic JLA approach, including a priority setting partnership within the field of sleep, collection of sleep-related research uncertainties as reported by students in higher education, sorting of the uncertainties and a final identification of the top 10 uncertainties through collaborative work between researchers, students, stakeholders and experts in the field. Uncertainties were collected using a one-question online survey: 'as a student, which question(s) do you consider to be important with regards to sleep?'. A variety of approaches were applied to promote the survey to the students, including social media, radio, the university website, stands in university cafeterias and a sleep stunt. NVivo V.12 was used to code and sort the questions.

SETTING

A higher education institution in Norway.

PARTICIPANTS

555 students.

RESULTS

The data collection provided 608 uncertainties, and the following prioritised top 10: (1) screen time, (2) stress, (3) educational achievements, (4) social relations, (5) mental health, (6) physical activity, (7) indoor environment, (8) substance abuse, (9) shift work and (10) sleep quality. Despite successful data collection, we found sleep to be a broad topic, and defining specific questions throughout the sorting and verification process proved difficult.

CONCLUSIONS

We identified the prioritised top 10 research uncertainties as reported by students in higher education, ranking screen time first. However, the process was time and resource consuming. The research uncertainties addressed by the students showed great diversity, characterised by heterogeneity and a lack of specificity, making verification of the uncertainties challenging.