This paper explores the experiences early in the pandemic as RN students added the challenge of pursuing a higher degree with the additional burden of entering into the uncharted territory of a pandemic. Reflexive thematic analysis with an inductive semantic approach was used to analyze 44 RN students’ written assignment texts that asked the question: What has been the impact of COVID-9 on your personal and professional lives? Four major themes evolved from the analysis of these reflective papers that explained the trajectory of “being in limbo”: Naiveté, Surprise, Challenges Everywhere, and Consequences. These themes revealed what it was like for the RN student participants during the earlier days of the COVID pandemic as found within the context of a disaster preparedness nursing course. Nurse educators have a significant role and obligation to recognize stressors or distress in their students when disasters, significant events or pandemics are in play. Developing intentional curricula strategies for personal and professional resilience through compassionate and supportive learning environments and evidence-based self-care programs is crucial to student retention and early novice career retention.
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2020). Fact Sheet: Nursing Shortage. https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/42/News/Factsheets/Nursing-Shortage-Factsheet.pdf
Amin, K., & Cox, C. (2021). Unvaccinated COVID-19 Hospitalization Costs the U.S. Health System Billions of Dollars. Peterson Center on Healthcare & Kaiser Family Foundation Health Spending Briefs. https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/unvaccinated-covid-patients-cost-the-u-s-health-system-billions-of-dollars/
Benner, P. (1982). From Novice to Expert. American Journal of Nursing, 82, 402-407. https://doi.org/10.1097/00000446-198282030-00004
Boskoski, I., Gallo, C., Wallace, M., & Costamagna, G. (2020). COVID-19 Pandemic and Personal Protective Equipment Shortage: Protective Efficacy Comparing Masks and Scientific Methods for Respirator Reuse. Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, 92, 519-523.
Braun, V., & Clark, V. (2006). Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Buchan, J., Duffield, C., & Jordan, A. (2015). ‘Solving’ Nursing Shortages: Do We Need a New Agenda? Journal of Nursing Management, 23, 543-545. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12315
Cupchik, G. (2001). Constructivist Realism: An Onotology that Encompasses Positivist and Constructivist Approaches to the Social Sciences. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 2, Article No. 7. https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-2.1.968
Fauteux, N. (2021). COVID-19: Impact on Nurses and Nursing. American Journal of Nursing, 121, 19-21. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NAJ.0000751076.87046.19
Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., & Marks, J. S. (1998). Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14, 245-258. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0749-3797(98)00017-8
Fitzgerald, A. (2020). Professional Identify: A Concept Analysis. Nursing Forum, 55, 447-472. https://doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12450
Fohrman, J., Jabbouri, S., Winters, H., Pahang, J., George, A., Smart, D., & Akins, R. (2018). The Role of Public Health Nurses in Bioterrorism Preparedness—13 Years Later. Internal Medicine Review, 4, 1-24.
Fowler, K., & Wholeben, M. (2020). COVID-19: Outcomes for Trauma-Impacted Nurses and Nursing Students. Nurse Education Today, 93, Article ID: 104525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2020.104525
Gan, X. Q., Shi, Z. Y., Chair, S. Y., Cao, X., & Wang, Q. (2020). Willingness of Chinese Nurses to Practice in Hubei Combating the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Epidemic: A Cross-Sectional Study. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 76, 2137-2150.
Gonzalez, C. M., & Garcia-Hernandez, A. M. (2021). What Services, or Work Units, Do Nurses Experience in a More Traumatic Way When Entering the Professional World in Tenerife, Spain? A Phenomenological Study. Journal of Organizational Psychology, 21, No. 2. https://doi.org/10.33423/jop.v21i2.4201
Gordon, C., & Thompson, A. (2020). Supply and Demand of PPE. British Journal of Nursing (Mark Allen Publishing), 29, 592. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2020.29.11.592
Halcomb, E., McInnes, S., Williams, A., Ashley, C., James, S., Fernandez, R., Stephen, C., & Calma, K. (2020). The Experiences of Primary Healthcare Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 52, 553-563. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.12589
Kaiser Health News & the Guardian (2021). Lost on the Front Line Database. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/series/lost-on-the-frontline
Kang, L., Ma, S., Chen, M., Yang, J., Wang, Y., Li, R., Yao, L., Bai, H., Cai, Z., Xiang Yang, B., Hu, S., Zhang, K., Wang, G., Ma, C., & Liu, Z. (2020). Impact on Mental Health and Perceptions of Psychological Care among Medical and Nursing Staff in Wuhan during the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease Outbreak: A Cross-Sectional Study. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 87, 11-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.03.028
Keener, T., Hall, K., Wang. K., Hulsey, T., & Piamjariyakul, U. (2020). Quality of Life, Resilience, & Related-Factors of Nursing Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Nurse Educator, 46, 143-148. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNE.0000000000000969
Lee, M. C. C., Thampi, S., Chan, H. P., Khoo, D., Chin, B. Z. B., Foo, D. P. X., Lua, C. B., Lewin, B., & Jacob, R. (2020). Psychological Distress during the COVID-19 Pandemic amongst Anaesthesiologists and Nurses. BJA: The British Journal of Anaesthesia, 125, e384-e386.
Link, T., Laham, K., Hubbell, S., & Baisden, P. (2021). Reflections of Family Nurse Practitioner Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study. Journal of Nursing Education, 60, 449-452. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20210722-06
Maltby, H., & Conroy, C. (2020). Coalition of Vermont Nurse and Nurse Practitioner Leaders Responds to the ANA-VT Survey on COVID-19: Themes and Recommendations. Vermont Nurse Connection, 23, 7.
Matsumori, N. & Kageyama, Y. (2021). Literature Review of Nursing Education Promoting Professional Socialization among Nursing Students. Open Journal of Nursing, 11, 828-846. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojn.2021.1110069
Moody, L., Teel, C., & Peltzer, J. (2018). Advancing Nursing Education: BSN Completion Messaging Materials for Associate Degree Program Nursing Faculty. Nursing Education Perspectives, 39, E21-E25. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000000342
Moorthy, A., & Sankar, T. K. (2020). Emerging Public Health Challenge in UK: Perception and Belief on Increased COVID19 Death among BAME Healthcare Workers. Journal of Public Health, 42, 486-492. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdaa096
Petitta, L., Jiang, L., & Hartel, C. E. J. (2017). Emotional Contagion & Burnout among Nurse and Doctors: Do Joy and Anger from Different Sources of Stakeholders Matter? Stress and Health, 33, 358-369. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2724
Rangachari, P., & Woods, J. L. (2020). Preserving Organizational Resilience, Patient Safety, and Staff Retention during COVID-19 Requires a Holistic Consideration of the Psychological Safety of Healthcare Workers. International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health, 17, Article No. 4267. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124267
Rosenthal, L., Lee, S., Jenkins, P., Arbet, J., Carrington, S., Hoon, S., Purcell, S. K., & Nodine, P. (2021). A Survey of Mental Health in Graduate Nursing Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Nurse Educator, 46, 215-220. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNE.0000000000001013
Sherman, D. W., & Ouellette, S. C. (2001). Patients Tell of Their Images, Expectations, and Experiences with Physicians and Nurses on an AIDS-Designated Unit. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 12, 84-94.
VanDevanter, N., Raveis, V., Kovner, C., McCollum, M., & Keller, R. (2017). Challenges and Resources for Nurses Participating in a Hurricane Sandy Hospital Evacuation. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 49, 635-643. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.12329