Purpose: As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged as a global crisis in 2020, nursing students experienced an abrupt transition from offline to online classes. An in-depth understanding of the online learning experiences of nursing students can be used to reorganize nursing education during the pandemic. Therefore, this study explored the online learning experiences of nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A descriptive qualitative design was employed. This study used purposive sampling to recruit 20 nursing students from a nursing college. Data were collected between November 2021 and March 2022 using semi-structured focus groups or one-to-one in-depth interviews. The collected data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Results: Five main categories emerged from the analysis: (a) ambivalence toward rapidly changing learning methods, (b) becoming familiar with online learning, (c) facing the limitations of online learning environment, (d) discovering the charm of online learning, and (e) making suggestions for future online learning. Conclusion: Nursing students experienced disappointments and concerns about online learning classes in rapidly changing situations but also experienced an efficient aspect. Psychological support and the latest information should be provided to nursing students who may experience psychological distress during this pandemic. Additionally, learning strategies and methods should be reorganized to reflect the characteristics of nursing courses and the preferences of nursing students.

Purpose: This study aimed to explore advanced response policies and psychological and emotional support measures for early infected people in the event of an infectious disease by analyzing the experiences of self-employed women who experienced confirmation in the early stages of the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: Data were collected through in-depth interviews with six experiences of self-employed women confirmed with COVID-19 in the early stages of the pandemic selected through the intentional sampling process, and then analyzed and interpreted through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results: Through analyzing the meaningful statement of the study participants, several themes were identified, including “The pressure of dying from an incurable illness”, “The fear of quarantine and the fear of death”, “The difficulty of being a self-employed woman”, “The pain of social stigma”, “The driving force of one’s overcoming”, and “Expansion of perspective due to new experiences”. Conclusion: The study found that participants experienced anxiety and fear during the transfer process and admission to the facility after confirmation, due to the lack of guidance and face-to-face interactions. The non-face-to-face treatment increased their anxiety, as they could not receive accurate information about their health conditions and care. This highlights the impact of inaccurate information regarding COVID-19 and media reports focusing on severely ill patients and deaths. In addition, the study participants experienced social stigma caused by COVID-19, resulting in changes in their interpersonal relationships and life attitudes. Implications are suggested based on the results of this study.

Purpose: This study explored life experiences and meaning attributed to them by older men living alone during the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: Data were collected from June to July 2022 through face-to-face in-depth interviews with 14 older men living alone and analyzed using the thematic analysis method suggested by Braun and Clarke. Results: The analysis revealed four themes and eight subthemes. 1) Unfamiliar daily life faced in old age due to COVID-19; 2) living a difficult life in a stopped society; 3) a life of constant effort amid change; and 4) daily life adjusting to the new normal amid regret. The participants volunteered to be secluded to adapt to their changed daily life in an isolated society, which led to depression. As time passed, they tried to adapt to their new daily lives by communicating untactfully to shorten their physical distance. Conclusion: This study suggests that it is necessary to understand socially vulnerable classes in national disaster situations and the need for various policies to respond to social isolation. In the future, developing an intervention that allows older men living alone to actively adapt to a changing society and verify its effectiveness is necessary.

Since a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown etiology was first reported in China in December 2019, the number of confirmed cases with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 [SARS-CoV-2]) worldwide has been increasing, and nearly two million patients are expected to have died by February 2021. Globally, COVID-19 is being considered a primary pulmonary disease, but it is more than a lung infection. This is because patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 present with a variety of clinical signs and symptoms involving many organs, ranging from fever, inflammation, myocardial injury, shock, and the development of coronary artery aneurysm. SARS-CoV-2 shows unique characteristics in its transmission, mortality, and stability in different environmental conditions. During COVID-19 pandemic, about 10 drugs have been clinically tried with none proven to be effective. With no prospect for effective drugs in the near future, there are currently possibilities of success with vaccines and convalescent plasma. Along with the prospect of vaccines and other therapeutic drugs, special precautions (isolation, testing, treating, and tracing) are strictly recommended until we return to normal situations. In this review we comprehensively analyzed the clinical presentations, characteristics, and outcomes of patients with COVID-19, and tried to assess the clinical effects of some drugs as part of the ongoing efforts to understand COVID-19 pandemic.