Initially, I was very overwhelmed last Spring when everything was abruptly moved online. It felt like everything was thrown up in the air and all of us were expected to catch everything that was falling. If it weren’t for my faculty and professors last semester, I strongly believe that I would not have passed. Even though it was uncharted territory for my professors, they all remained calm and did everything in their ability to keep our course on track. They all went the extra mile for myself and my classmates, and I will forever be appreciative of them.
Online instruction was something that required a lot of adjustment as far as my studies go. It’s very hard to replicate the typical classroom environment that we typically learn in on campus. Personally, I found it challenging to study at home because it was not what I was used to.
The virtual adjustments we have made have had their own pros and cons. It’s very nice to get in a routine of how to perform an assessment on a patient, as well as what are appropriate responses to patients in certain situations; however, nothing compares to actually laying hands, eyes, and ears on a real patient.
Social distancing this semester has impacted my relationship with my classmates more than anything. We are no longer able to study together in person like we normally would, but we have found ways around that via Zoom and FaceTime. Some of my classmates have become family to me, so it’s challenging to know that I haven’t seen some of them in person since March. Personally, I do feel safer with social distancing in place. I work in long-term care, so I find it safest for my friends, family, and patients if I practice safe social distancing.
Not being able to go to clinical during this pandemic has been harder than I anticipated. I am a very “hands-on learner,” so what I learn in clinical often strongly helps my understanding of topics in my didactic courses.
Being with LCON during this pandemic has provided me with a lot of personal growth. It has required me to adjust in ways I never have had to before. Rather than viewing this as a challenge, I have tried to view this as an opportunity. I feel that we, as nurses, over time develop an instinct to perform well under pressure, and that can be said to what we are experiencing now with transitioning online. We learn to roll with the punches and adjust on the go. Obviously being in the classroom and seeing patients in clinical are ideal, but I feel like LCON has done a great job with providing us with as high of a level of nursing education and clinical practice as possible. Based on the way LCON has responded during this pandemic, there is no other nursing program I would rather be in.