Nurses’ Perceptions of Clinical Education for Nursing Students in Japan During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected healthcare workers and medical students including the restriction of nursing students from clinical practice, which hinders the learning process. This study examined changes in nurses' perceptions concerning nursing students' clinical practice of education during the COVID-19 pandemic.A web-based questionnaire was administered to nurses from two facilities, which comprised pre- and post-pandemic teaching experiences. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0 (Released 2019; IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) and KH Coder (KH Coder 3.0, Koichi Higuchi, Tokyo, Japan) were utilized for the data analysis in this study. Among the 119 questionnaires distributed, 53 were analyzed (77.9% valid response rate). Overall, 43 (92.5%), 38 (71.7%), and 44 (83.0%) respondents perceived changes in nursing students' clinical practice, nursing students, and their own teaching practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively.Many nurses perceived reduced patient interaction and shifts in student characteristics during clinical practice. Nurses reacted to these changes by confirming students' understanding and asking more questions. The limited sample size and cross-sectional design suggest the need for further exploration of the construct's concept and model. The findings highlight the importance of supporting nursing educators in adapting their teaching methods to address COVID-19 pandemic challenges.