The Reflections of Nursing Students, the Future COVID-19 Pandemic Warriors: A Qualitative Evaluation on Fear Appeal

Aim: The aim of this study is to determine what nursing students, the future health professionals, think about the concept of “COVID-19 Pandemic”. Material and Methods: This qualitative study employed the Word Association Test (WAT) as a data collection tool to obtain the reflections regarding COVID-19 Pandemic among the first and the second-year students, and the concept of "COVID-19 Pandemic" was defined through face-to-face interviews carried out with the volunteering students (n=97). Results: Analysis of data collected from 97 nursing students regarding COVID-19 Pandemic yielded five main categories: Perceived threat assessment [frequency, f:144], coping response [f:134], mask/distance/cleaning [f=189], special connotations for COVID-19 disease [f=57], and restrictions/bans [f=45]), based on the reflections that the term “COVID-19 Pandemic” evoked among the students. Conclusion: The qualitative assessment conducted in this study with nursing students may provide a different perspective on the handling of fear and threat perception through motivation.