Distance Nursing Education During COVID-19 Pandemic: An International Experience

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to reduce the speed of transmission, the increasing patient load of hospitals and the need for intensive care; restrictions in daily life, curfews, and physical distancing have been implemented and continue to be implemented all over the world. Within these measures, universities suspended face-to-face education and research activities, and this change interrupted the education and training activities carried out in a way known before. Necessary arrangements have been made in nursing education to adapt to these changes effectively in a short time and carry out educational activities with distance education methods. According to this new system, nurse academicians have to adjust their educational roles and deliver the nursing curriculum's content with distance education technologies. This process, which brings about unprecedented change, continues to be a unique experience for students, educators, and universities. This article discusses experiences related to planning and conducting theoretical nursing courses, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic period in the line with the literature.

Özet

During the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to decelerate the speed of transmission, to decrease increased patient load of hospitals, and to reduce intensive care need; restrictions have been implemented in daily life all over the world such as curfews and physical distancing. Within the scope of these measures, universities suspended face-to-face education and research activities, and this change interrupted the education and training activities carried out as previously known way. Necessary arrangements have also been performed in nursing education to adapt to these changes effectively in a short time and to carry out educational activities with distance education methods. Nurse academicians had to deliver the nursing curriculum’s content with distance education technologies by adjusting their educational roles. This process, which brings an unprecedented change, continues to be a unique experience for students, educators, and universities. The experiences particularly related to planning and conducting theoretical nursing courses during the COVID-19 pandemic period were discussed along with the literature in the present article.