The Impact of the Pandemic on Postgraduate Nursing Students: Comparison of Master’s and Doctorate Studies

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the effect of the pandemic on the education and scientific research activities of nursing graduate students. The descriptive and cross-sectional research was carried out in Türkiye between February and March 2021 with 383 postgraduate students, 218 of whom are master's and 165 are doctoral students. The data were collected using an online questionnaire. Descriptive statistical methods, independent groups t-test and chi-square test were used to evaluate the data. The majority of the master’s students were nurses (83.5%), and the majority of doctorate students were academicians (79.4%). During the pandemic, 75.7% of master’s students and 80.6% of doctorate students completed their education online. While 50.3% of doctoral students made scientific publications and 44.8% participated in scientific events, only 18.8% of master’s students had publications and 21.6% participated in congresses and symposiums. Master’s students had more difficulties in communicating with the instructors, maintaining course attendance, and focusing on educational activities compared to doctorate students. Similarly, master’s students had lower satisfaction with the efficiency of the courses, achievement of learning objectives, course achievements, scientific meetings, scientific publications, and academic consulting activities. The lowest satisfaction in both groups was academic consulting and advisory processes (Master’s: 8.7%, Doctorate: 9.1%). The pandemic has affected master’s and doctorate students’ training and research activities. During the pandemic, nursing students enrolled in the master's program experienced more difficulties and were less satisfied with educational activities than doctoral students.