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Education, Nursing, Coronavirus, COVID-19, IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has become a major crisis in global health. This pandemic deeply changed human behavior on different levels ( 1, , 2, ). Depending on the prevalence and severity, countries had to apply different scenarios such as adherence to health protocols, social distancing, lockdown and restrictions on domestic and foreign travels, and the closure of places with mass gatherings ( 3, , 4, ). In the education system, the nursing education had to change their routine methods and adjust their education based on health protocols ( 5, ). These changes required the education to move toward e-learning in nursing required in implementation of student-centered education, and evaluation strategies have been modified ( 6, ). On the other hand, more than half of the nursing courses in the nursing curriculum are held clinically and practically ( 7, ).Nursing students and nurse educators also faced challenges in the teaching-learning process, especially students&apos, presence in clinical wards, knowledge-based assessment, skills and attitudes, quality management in health care, and patient safety ( 8, ). The challenge of providing clinical education has increased the use of simulation, distance health, and virtual reality applied by nursing faculty members in different countries, and access to these resources has been another challenge in nursing schools ( 9, ). Various studies have been conducted on the impact of pandemics on medical education ( 4, , 10, , 11, ) In 2009, a study entitled&,rdquo the challenges of continuing medical education in a pandemic era&,rdquo was conducted by Lim. Pandemic outbreaks had unique challenges to medical educationists, i.e. to decide whether the situation merits school closure and how to continue with clinical training. Videotaped vignettes and audiotaped recordings or simulators, webcasting, and online chat rooms, were successfully adopted by medical schools during the SARS outbreak ( 12, ). In Redinger&,rsquo s study, adapting to a virtual classroom, embracing informal teaching, and supporting trainee mental health were the strategies that were implemented in the SARS pandemic in medical education ( 13, ).Iran started to use various methods of virtual education as an alternative to in-person training as soon as possible ( 2, ). To prevent the spread of disease and reduce the high workload in hospital wards, many universities of medical sciences asked the students to leave academic and clinical settings and directed them to virtual education ( 14, , 15, ). Like other countries, regarding the increased need of the healthcare system to nurses and graduation of the senior students in the absence of disease crisis, their clinical education was held in different departments by reducing the training hours ( 9, ), and a number of students were graduated.Although a year has passed since the outbreak of COVID-19, and nursing education in Iran, as in other countries, has undergone changes, we have limited knowledge of the experiences of nursing education. A qualitative study can help to shed light on the experiences of nurse educators and students in this area. Therefore, a qualitative study was conducted to explore the experiences of nurse educators and nursing students in Iran.MethodsThis qualitative study was conducted using conventional content analysis approach. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of nursing education amid the COVID-19 Pandemic. Setting This study was conducted in Nursing and Midwifery College affiliated to Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran. Participants were 12 nurse educators and 7 nursing students in this college. Participants Interviewees were selected purposefully from nurse educators and nursing students in the nursing faculties affiliated with Birjand University of Medical Sciences. Data collection Data were collected via in&,#8208 depth, unstructured, and face&,#8208 to&,#8208 face interviews. The time and place of interviews were selected as agreed with the participants. Interviews were recorded by digital audio recording. The interview was initiated with an open-ended primary question such as, &,ldquo Could you please explain your experience of nursing education during the COVID-19 pandemic?&,rdquo They were continued with probing questions such as &,ldquo Would you please explain more?&,rdquo Interviews lasted approximately 60 to 90 minutes. All interviews were audio-recorded with permission of the participants and transcribed verbatim by the researcher. Data collection and analysis were done from August 2020 to January 2021. The data collection process continued until the data were saturated and no new categories were emerged from the data. Finally, 19 nurse educators and nursing students were purposively selected for interview. Data analysis Data were analyzed using Graneheim and Lundman&apos,s content analysis method. All interviews were listened to several times to obtain a sense of the whole, and then they were transcribed verbatim. The meaning units in quotations were extracted and labeled with a code. The various codes were compared based on differences and similarities. The codes similar in meaning were sorted into subcategories. This was done by the first author. Subsequently, subcategories were compared and combined with each other to form the main categories. To analyze the data, MAXQDA software 10 was used. Rigor Lincoln and Guba&,rsquo s criteria were used to ensure the validity and reliability of the data ( 16, ). To ensure credibility, the researcher had a long and deep involvement with the subject and data as well as member checking in such a way the transcripts were made available to participants along with the initial codes. In addition, the credibility of the data was enhanced using different data collection methods (interviews, observations, and memos). The data dependability was assessed, using both peer and member checking. The primary findings of the study along with the preliminary codes and categories were shared with the participants and their opinions were received (member check). Some parts of the data were analyzed by other colleagues who were not involved in the study (peer check). Confirmability was ensured through expert check. The codes and categories were repeatedly monitored and confirmed by supervisors (expert check). Finally, by providing a comprehensive description of the topics, participants, data collection and analysis procedures, and limitations of the study, we made an attempt to create transferability, so that other researchers may clearly follow the research process taken by the researchers. Ethical considerations The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Birjand University of Medical Sciences, with the ethical code of IR.bums.REC.1397.386. At the beginning of the interviews, the aim of the study was explained to the participants. Participants signed written consent forms and allowed us to record their voices during the interviews. They were assured that they could leave the study at any point and that their identities would be kept confidential by researchers.ResultsNinety nurse educators and nursing students participated in the study. Eleven participants were female and eight were male. Twelve participants were nurse educators, and the others were nursing students. The mean age of the nurse educators was 42.05&,plusmn 8/9 years, and that of nursing students was 22.5&,plusmn 3.03 years. During the process of data analysis, 232 codes were generated and categorized into 11 subcategories and for main categories. Regarding the exploration experiences of nursing education during the COVID-19 outbreak, 4 categories and 11 subcategories were extracted ( Table 1,).Meaning unitcodeSubcategoryCategory&,bull In the beginning, the classes were held offline. We recorded audio on the slides and uploaded them in the system for students to see.&,bull Compulsory termination of face-to-face training in theoretical and clinical coursesShift to virtual educationMandatory change in the nursing education&,bull To teach clinical skills, we performed the techniques ourselves, videotaped them, and uploaded the videos.&,bull facing the challenges of e-learning&,bull Replacing virtual education with face-to-face training in theoretical and practical courses |