Understanding the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Student Nurses – A Transdisciplinary Problem

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact across Azerbaijan. Official statistics suggest that there have been well over 3000 COVID-19 deaths in Azerbaijan, and this is generally accepted to underestimate the true number. There is growing evidence that health and social care workers appear to have a heightened risk of infection and mortality as do people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. For example an analysis of COVID-19 deaths at St George’s hospital in the UK demonstrated a similar age distribution to deaths normally observed in the hospital which was in contrast with BAME communities who were “disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and non-COVID deaths, and the excess in mortality in the BAME groups remains after adjustment and is not fully explained by available hospital information on comorbidities age, sex or poverty”. (Perkin et al, 2020:70 [1]). It is clear that the challenges which all students are experiencing have been magnified for those studying to enter these medical professions, but each in very different ways. In nursing and midwifery students have been offered the opportunity to opt for extended placements within NHS services to support the national response to COVID-19 (Jackson et al, 2020 [2]). Each of these different options presents both challenges and opportunities for students. These students are likely to have a range of experiences, both positive and negative and may be placed in challenging situations; some predicable, others potentially unforeseen. Nurses have been in the front line of the response to COVID-19 with many being redeployed as in-patient services were reconfigured to ensure the health service retains the capacity to treat the expected large numbers of patients with COVID-19. In parallel, the public health response to the pandemic with its twin principles of ‘social distancing’ and the ‘self-isolation’ imposed during a national ‘lockdown’ present huge challenges. Social care services have had to manage unprecedented social upheaval. Social workers have had to rapidly adjust their practice in order to discharge their statutory responsibilities. For community based mental health nurses the best practice principles of patient centred and recovery focused care have been fundamentally challenged by the need for social distancing, while for midwifes whether working in the