A qualitative analysis of nursing students' tweets during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak has profoundly changed daily life and the ways in which students learn and interact. This study explores the nature and content of tweets posted by students enrolled in nursing programs (hereafter nursing students) in the United Kingdom, the United States, and South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic between March 4 and April 7, 2020. A total of 8856 tweets from the Twitter accounts of 95 self-identified nursing students were included in our qualitative analysis. The findings revealed five categories of tweet content: (i) reactions to COVID-19; (ii) everyday life; (iii) role as a student; (iv) social connections; and (v) sociopolitical issues. Students shared concerns about the impact of COVID-19 on their education, discussed their experiences as nursing students, tweeted details of their daily lives, and sought social connections for support as well as for information sharing. The findings of this study can inform nurse educators to better understand their students' responses to and sentiments about the COVID-19 pandemic. Nurse educators should incorporate this understanding into curricula for pandemic preparedness and response efforts.