Exploring the Intersection Between Academic and Professional Practice During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Undergraduate and Graduate Nursing Students’ Experiences

Abstract

Background The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has implications for students who are also nurses. Purpose and Methods This qualitative descriptive study used a practice development approach to explore the intersection between academic and professional work experiences for undergraduate Post-Diploma Registered Practical Nurses bridging to Registered Nurse Bachelor of Science in Nursing students and Master of Nursing graduate nursing students during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study incorporated critical aesthetic reflections that focused on the personal and aesthetic ways of knowing, as a data collection approach and knowledge dissemination strategy. Results Analysis of the narrative component of participants’ reflections revealed the following themes: sensing a “call to duty,” experiencing a myriad of emotions, shifting societal and individual perceptions of nursing, and learning in an uncertain environment. Conclusions The results of the study can inform educational strategies and academic policies to support this unique nursing population, who are frontline practitioners as well as student learners.