Author(s)

Jiayi Zhu^*, Chen Zheng^*, Xintong Cai, Xinze Qiu, Caifang Zhang, Deqin Huang^#, Yuexian Tao^#

School of Nursing, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.

Background: COVID-19 had become much less virulent but still infectious, and China had loosened controls on its prevention after three years of zero-COVID policy. Nursing students were faced with infection. However, the symptoms of the vast majority of them were not serious. Objectives: To understand the feelings and thoughts of nursing undergraduates first infected with COVID-19 after implementing the policy of loosening controls on COVID-19 prevention in China. Methods: A semi-structured in-depth interview was adopted to collect data from 19 nursing undergraduates in a nursing school in China in January 2023, which were then analyzed using the Colaizzi analysis method. Results: Two main themes and seven sub-themes were induced: feelings after the diagnosis of being infected (feeling calm by professional confidence, feeling afraid of the consequences of being infected, feeling depressed, feeling relieved/lucky/happy), and thoughts brought by COVID-19 infection (becoming more active in learning, committed to a nursing career, and feeling shaken about becoming a nurse). Conclusions: Schools and hospitals should pay attention to infected nursing students’ mental reactions and changes in study motivation and professional intention. Targeted measures, such as education for epidemic prevention and education for cultivating the professional spirit, should be taken to promote their mental health and reserve their talents for nursing.

COVID-19, Nursing Undergraduates, Feelings, Thoughts, Qualitative Study

Zhu, J. , Zheng, C. , Cai, X. , Qiu, X. , Zhang, C. , Huang, D. and Tao, Y. (2024) Feelings and Thoughts of Infected Nursing Undergraduates with COVID-19 in China: A Qualitative Study. Open Journal of Nursing, 14, 598-607. doi: 10.4236/ojn.2024.1411043.