Integration of Nursing Care as Education Approach in the Implementation of Flexible Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background: Flexible learning has become the most viable strategy to survive the education industry across the globe and at all levels since the pandemic. The abrupt shift of modality imposes various agendas, either beneficial to improve learning delivery or, to some extent, a disadvantage, especially among technologically challenged educators. Curative traits are attributed to meeting the education requirements and needs of learners while the pandemic disrupts its core implementation. Integration of nursing care as such involves various key stakeholders, understandably because of its newness in form. In developing countries, continuity of teaching and learning has been affected by the abrupt transition, which further at-risks higher academic institutions' ability to provide quality professional education. The study aimed to document pandemic-induced stories encountered by the stakeholders among higher institutions' implementation as cornerstones to developing a caring-inspired strategy to approach education. Methods: The narratives of stakeholders such as students, faculty, parents, and the school administration are extracted during their elemental months of learning design, innovation, and transition phases. Analyses using NVivo 12 Plus on the participant’s experiences and coping were transcribed, and themes were generated thereafter. Pseudonyms of the 28 participants assigned were obtained prior to researcher-assisted key informant interviews to ensure the ethicality of the qualitative research design. Results: Significant themes as expressions of a caring-inspired approach to flexible learning range from identifying challenges and changes to coping with the implementation of technology-modified learning modalities. In the context of learning material development, digital literacy, curriculum-related concerns, and breaches of academic veracity are themes that surfaced among all participants within the first three months of pandemic adjustments. Conclusion: The study recommends the inclusion of flexible learning as a strategy even in the post-pandemic era as input to strategic planning during management reviews and to sustain technological and educational evolution, ensuring a learning continuum amidst crises