Managing the unexpected: Stressors and solutions for challenges experienced by RN-BSN students during an unprecedented global pandemic

Background: The year 2020 brought the world the Coronavirus and the resulting pandemic. A large contingent of registered nurses (RNs), working as essential workers, were also attending classes in online accelerated programs (OAPs) to earn their BSN degree. Attending school as a working RN, can be stressful. During an active pandemic, it can be overwhelming. Purpose: This quality improvement project was aimed to identify students' stressors in an online accelerated RNBSN program, and to use the results to make adjustments in coursework to decrease academic stress while improving student success. Method: A Qualtrics survey was distributed to 1992 active RN-BSN students to identify the student's "biggest challenges or stressors", and 302 students responded listing 1105 stress responses and elaborations. The survey included some academic suggestions by faculty to alleviate course stress. Students commented on the usefulness of suggestions and proposed additional ideas. Compassionate interventions were employed in each core nursing course. Results: After 2 terms a post-intervention survey was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the course interventions employed. A total of 276 students participated in the post-intervention survey, with 778 responses to the employed interventions. Conclusions: Findings show the importance of faculty vigilance in assessing cause for declines in academic performance. Using an inquiring approach and flexibility to adapt coursework while maintaining student learning outcomes is possible and can play a significant role in student success.