Abstract
Background
Students in the southeastern United States were affected by Hurricane Michael in 2018. The storm's devastation led to communication and education issues that transformed students’ paths to completing their nursing degree program. Climate change will cause increased natural disasters, and educators must be prepared.
Method
This qualitative study used a descriptive phenomenological design. A purposive sample of 10 graduate nursing students were recruited and interviewed. The data gathering ended when data saturation was achieved.
Results
Five themes were generated: devastation and no communication, survival mode, emotional impact, before and after, and forever changed. The rich data documented the resiliency of the students as they described events during and after the hurricane in relation to their personal and educational experiences.
Conclusion
Universities and students need to be prepared for natural disasters; understanding graduate nursing students’ prior experiences can benefit educators.
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