Opinions and Attitudes of Nursing Students Towards Distance Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study aimed to determine the opinions and attitudes of nursing students towards distance education during the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This research was designed as a descriptive study. Two hundred ten students of a nursing department of a private university in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, who received distance education in the spring semester of 2019-2020 academic year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, constituted the sample of this study. The participants were asked to complete an online survey which included a descriptive information form, an Opinions on Distance Education Scale (ODES) and an Attitude Scale towards Distance Education (ASDE).RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 21.62 +/- 1.90 and 55.7% used their mobile phone to participate in distance education. The mean internet use was 6.58 +/- 0.27 hours per day and 74.4% had internet access problems. The mean scores obtained from the ODES and ASDE were 45.50 +/- 0.77 and 95.74 +/- 2.15, respectively. There was a positive and moderate correlation between the mean ODES and ASDE scores.CONCLUSION: The findings of this study imply that lectures with lab and clinical practice are not appropriate for distance education and so any missed lab or clinical practice might be compensated for via face-to-face education after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.