Becoming accustomed to online teaching: nursing lecturers' experiences in the era of COVID-19

Abstract

PurposeThis study aimed to explore nursing lecturers' experiences of online teaching and learning during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The COVID-19 policy on social and physical distancing urges nursing lecturers to provide online teaching delivery for their students using both synchronous and asynchronous methods. However, the experiences of nursing lecturers providing online teaching delivery in the era of COVID-19 are yet unknown.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used an interpretive phenomenological analysis study design. Participants were seven nursing lecturers, with whom we conducted in-depth interviews using semi structured questions through telephone calls or video conferences. Interpretive phenomenology analysis was adopted to analyse the generated data.FindingsThe core theme of this current study is that of becoming accustomed to online teaching delivery. The main theme is supported by three sub-themes, which are being comfortable with the technology, difficulties and how to overcome them and caring for students to explain the online teaching experiences of nursing lecturers.Originality/valueThe results of this study demonstrate that familiarity with technology is critical for lecturers to facilitate their online teaching. There is a need for further enhancement of technology and application usage to improve the quality of nursing lecturers' teaching methods and ensure the provision of theory and nursing skill competency to students.