The experience of baccalaureate clinical nursing faculty transitioning to emergency remote clinical teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons for the future

Background: Experiential clinical learning in undergraduate nursing education allows for fusion of nursing knowledge with practice to ensure the development of competent graduate nurses. The global COVID-19 pandemic necessitated an abrupt transition from in-person clinical educational experiences to emergency remote clinical teaching. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences of baccalaureate nursing clinical faculty who transitioned from in-person clinical to emergency remote clinical teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. Design: A qualitative descriptive design was used. Setting: The study took place in the United States. Participants: Nineteen baccalaureate nursing clinical faculty participated in the study. Methods: Participants engaged in semi-structured, in-depth, online interviews. Results: Five themes emerged from the data: transition, collaboration and support, the joy of teaching, authentic professional experience, and the overarching primary theme, stress of the moment. Conclusions: The transition to emergency remote clinical teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic caused stress and anxiety. However, there were important lessons learned about how to best support students and faculty while providing a robust online learning experience. Understanding the experiences of clinical nursing faculty during this abrupt transition can support recommendations for best practices in the future.

Automated summary

This study describes the experiences of baccalaureate nursing clinical faculty who transitioned from in-person clinical teaching to emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results showed that this transition caused stress and anxiety, but also provided important lessons on how to best support students and faculty while providing a robust online learning experience.