Nursing students’ experiences of adapting to clinical practice in the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose: This study was performed to explore and describe the overall clinical practice adaptation experiences among nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: This qualitative study applied the grounded theory method by Corbin and Strauss. Data were collected from May to August 2021 through individual in-depth interviews with 14 nursing students from three universities in B metropolitan city.Results: From open coding, 20 sub-categories and 10 categories were identified. Analysis revealed that the core category was the process of “keeping the place of learning while adhering to the restrictions of the era of pandemic” and that it consisted of four phases: confusion, withdrawal, adjustment, and growth. Through this process, participants utilized various action/interactional strategies such as “shifting to positive thinking,” “building a shield to protect oneself,” and “focusing on learning.” The consequences of these strategies were “adapting to the reality of the infectious disease situation” and “strengthening a foothold to grow as a future nurse.”Conclusion: An in-depth understanding of nursing students’ experiences of adapting to clinical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic will guide nursing educators to promote effective teaching strategies to better support nursing students in a time of infectious disease crisis.