Academic nursing administrators' experiences with social distancing during COVID-19: A qualitative study

Abstract

<p>The COVID-19 pandemic brought about many unpredictable challenges requiring flexible and adaptable solutions for higher education, especially in nursing academia. The COVID-19 pandemic challenged nursing academia, including academic nursing administrators (ANAs), to keep staff and students safe while mitigating the spread of the disease. The ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 and the global healthcare crisis of this generation led to the need for social distancing. As the number of deaths increased from the coronavirus, radical changes were adopted in the United States, including social distancing. The COVID-19 pandemic complicated the practical aspects of the practicum in nursing education as they questioned how to continue educating nurses while facing the need for social distancing. A research study using a basic qualitative research method (BQRM) using Roy&rsquo;s adaptative model (RAM) as the lens was conducted to explore the experiences of ANAs in undergraduate nursing programs (UNPs) with social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The broad problem of interest underlying the study was the experiences of the (ANAs) as they managed both the unique challenges resulting from the coronavirus and the need for social distancing and the broader underlying shortage of nurses present before the COVID-19 pandemic. The academic and clinical realities related to meeting the Center for Disease Control (CDC) requirement for social distancing caused faculty to conduct known roles through unknown mechanisms, including a rapid transition to virtual formats for teaching, COVID testing, counseling, advising, and supporting students. Nursing academia needed to continue educating future nurses in a society facing social distancing while also needing to increase the number of nurses at the frontline. The specific research topic of the research study was the experiences of academic nursing administrators of undergraduate nursing programs (UNPs) with social distancing during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The insight gained from the study about the ANAs&rsquo; experiences could be shared with policymakers to guide improved nursing practice policies that would help meet the complex challenges of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic or that might happen with other public health crises. ANAs were able to recognize and facilitate needed significant changes in training nursing students while maintaining the nursing programs&rsquo; integrity, especially during the nursing shortage. The findings of this research study provide valuable insight and positive implications for understanding the context of the experiences of the ANAs with social distancing that may lead to preparation for needed adaptations in nursing academia for the future.</p>