Author(s)

Denise Smart^*, Sara Welty, Gail Oneal

Washington State University, Spokane, WA, USA.

This paper explores the experiences early in the pandemic as RN students added the challenge of pursuing a higher degree with the additional burden of entering into the uncharted territory of a pandemic. Reflexive thematic analysis with an inductive semantic approach was used to analyze 44 RN students’ written assignment texts that asked the question: What has been the impact of COVID-9 on your personal and professional lives? Four major themes evolved from the analysis of these reflective papers that explained the trajectory of “being in limbo”: Naiveté, Surprise, Challenges Everywhere, and Consequences. These themes revealed what it was like for the RN student participants during the earlier days of the COVID pandemic as found within the context of a disaster preparedness nursing course. Nurse educators have a significant role and obligation to recognize stressors or distress in their students when disasters, significant events or pandemics are in play. Developing intentional curricula strategies for personal and professional resilience through compassionate and supportive learning environments and evidence-based self-care programs is crucial to student retention and early novice career retention.

COVID-19, Thematic Analysis, RN Nursing Students, Pandemic, Nurse Retention

Smart, D. , Welty, S. and Oneal, G. (2022) COVID-19 Impact on RN Nursing Students’ Personal & Professional Lives: A Qualitative Study. Creative Education, 13, 422-436. doi: 10.4236/ce.2022.132024.