Nursing graduates from the 2019/2020 academic year will be known as the class of “coronials” as they saw their academic placements interrupted by the global outbreak of COVID-19. As part of the State of Alarm across Spain, these nurses were called to hospitals and healthcare centres to join medical teams as healthcare assistants. “In just a fortnight, our students were transformed from final-year students to front-line workers in the biggest health crisis in decades”, explained Cristina Monforte. “Although sign ups were voluntary and supervised by experienced professionals, students cared for COVID-19 patients across all hospital departments, including intensive care units and emergency wards”. “As university tutors, we were concerned about the adverse impact this serious situation might have on our students’ mental health, which is why we created a virtual platform where students could contact their tutors and classmates, while receiving support and self-care resources”, added Pilar Fuster, practicums coordinator for the Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing.

This exceptional situation led the two lecturers and researchers to write “Coronials: Nurses who graduated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Will they be better nurses?”, an article bringing together the main reflections following their experience supporting these final-year students. This innovative initiative also aims to encourage students’ personal growth and help them learn from the experience, whether they were working in hospitals or, in the case of students who were at-risk and unable to provide care in person, supporting their peers online.  

“From our own perspective as nursing educators, we feel that we have cared for our students and contributed to their development as nurses during this pandemic”, said the study’s authors. 

The analysis has been published in the journal Nurse Education Today and in the medium and long term it will help us to see the real impact this experience has had on recent graduates and whether it has helped them become better nurses.