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Clinical rotations, as once practiced by nursing programs across the United States, came to a screeching halt for most nursing schools in March 2020. The Novel Corona Virus 2, named by the World Health Organization on February 11, 2020, was responsible for this abrupt interruption in clinical rotations. The Novel Corona Virus 2, also known as COVID-19, is classified as a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARSCoV-2) (Beckman, 2020). The outbreak of COVID-19 cases and deaths caused havoc in the medical, social, and education arenas, turning the normal routine into a new normal. Health care facilities across the state of Florida closed clinical training sites to nursing, medical, and other allied health students. Nursing students who were currently in scheduled clinical rotations were suddenly removed and were not allowed to return to their assigned clinical sites. International, national, state, and local public health measures and mandates were ordered worldwide. Academic brick and mortar institutions began closing their doors and sending students living on campus in dormitories back to their original places of residence. Clinical coordinators and faculty were forced to examine alternate modalities for providing students with clinical nursing skills, knowledge, and critical-thinking competencies while satisfying the required clinical hours by state and national nursing accrediting agencies.
This article describes the problems encountered with the onset of COVID-19 from the perspectives of family nurse practitioner (FNP) faculty and their communication with national organizations, health care facilities, the university, department of nursing, faculty, and students of a Florida institution as it relates to the regional, state, and local policies and mandates. The educational innovations discussed in this article had never been implemented in the FNP Program at this university. Difficulties encountered with the loss of clinical sites, alternative clinical experiences, student anxiety, clinical faculty readjustment to the new reality, and changes in organizational policy due to the pandemic and safety concerns are described, and methods to restore clinical placements and required hours are reviewed.
Defining the Problem
Difficulties Encountered in Student Placements
Prior to COVID-19, the medical community needed FNP students to complete their education because of the shortage of primary care providers. In early spring, hospitals and clinics began shutting their doors to students, and the timeline for reopening to clinical experiences seemed indefinite....