Evaluation of university academic support services as perceived by nursing students during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The outbreak of COVID-19 prompted the temporary closure of schools, leading to the implementation of online classes and the restriction of face-to-face sessions. These measures were taken in response to concerns about the potential transmission of the virus among students, which could result in increased mortality and morbidity rates. However, the introduction of online classes necessitated schools to allocate resources for this transition, leading to limitations on other academic support services provided to students. This unique and extensive disruption of school services served as the impetus for the current study, which aimed to investigate how nursing students perceived the support services offered by the school during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employing a quantitative-comparative approach and convenience sampling, data were collected from nursing students enrolled in the academic year 2021-2022, with exclusion criteria applied to those who were absent or on leave during the study's execution. The respondent pool comprised 56.90 percent of female participants, with the majority in their second year of study. Overall, the participants held an effective perception of the university's academic support during the COVID-19 outbreak, as indicated by a mean score of 2.675. Statistical analyses, including one-way ANOVA and Post Hoc Tukey HSD tests, were conducted to assess the potential influence of gender and year level on nursing students' perceptions of the academic support provided by the University of Hail. The results revealed that gender did not significantly impact students' perceptions, regardless of their year level. However, the students' year level exerted a considerable influence on their perceptions, with fourth-year students displaying significantly different views compared to those in their second and third years. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that nursing students perceived the academic support offered by the University during the COVID-19 pandemic as effective. Despite the challenges posed by the transition to online classes, the institution's support services were generally well-regarded by the participants.