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The focus of this article is on a male patient with hearing loss who was diagnosed with COVID-19 after returning to Taiwan from overseas. Due to the severe pneumonia infiltration, the patient received the clinical-trial treatment Remdesivir. In addition to facing the isolation and new-drug-related anxieties of the patient, the medical team faced difficulties in communicating effectively with the patient and in helping him through the isolation period. During the period of hospitalization (March 14th to April 13th, 2020), the author used Roy's adaptation model to perform a nursing assessment, which confirmed that the patient faced the following problems: (1) ineffective breathing pattern related to COVID-19, (2) impaired verbal communication related to hearing impairment, and (3) social isolation related to the isolation experience and the communication barrier with healthcare workers. During the nursing care process, the author helped the patient receive the antiviral treatment and taught him how to do diaphragmatic breathing in a comfortable, recumbent position to improve his breathing pattern. To reduce the difficulty of communication, the author made a pile of cards with common care-related words, provided pen and paper to write, and used a mobile-phone-based social-networking application to communicate with the patient. The author used writing to communicate with the patient and learned some simple signs from him to enable interaction. Moreover, the intervention helped him adapt to the isolation and treatment protocols to reach holistic nursing care. Based on this experience, the author suggests that hospitals cooperate with sign language organizations to teach healthcare workers simple communication skills, including sign language and cards to provide more complete care for patients with hearing loss during hospitalization.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to expand worldwide, Taiwan has effectively contained the spread domestically and protected its citizens after registering its first case relatively early on 21 January 2020. Proactive preparedness and deployment by the national government, timely evidence and experience-based judgements and decision-making, information transparency, rapid response, and effective communication and measures have all been critical to combating COVID-19 in Taiwan. Nurses play a pivotal role in providing direct health care as well as providing contact tracing and care for the quarantined clients and community care services. The Taiwan Nurses Association and other nurses' associations serve a vital leadership role in advocating for nurses, raising public awareness, enhancing nursing's professional profile, and sharing experiences via national and international platforms. The implications for nursing and health policy are that we need to well prepare for any unpredicted emerging pandemic in the future. Providing adequate personal protective equipment and safe staffing should be the highest priority for the governments and policymakers around the world to combat pandemic successfully., (© 2020 International Council of Nurses.)

This article focuses on the unique needs and concerns of nursing educators and nursing students in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. During social distancing, interacting with other human beings has been restricted. This would undermine the experiential learning of nursing students. Hence, it is important to develop and evaluate an experiential learning program (ELP) for nursing education. A pre-test and post-test design were used. The study was conducted in a university in Central Taiwan. A total of 103 nursing students participated in the study from February to June 2019. The study intervention was the experiential learning program (ELP), including bodily experiences and nursing activities with babies, pregnant women, and the elderly. After the intervention, the students completed the self-reflection and insight scale (SRIS) and Taiwan Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (TCTDI) as outcome measures. An independent t -test showed that there was a significant difference between pre-test and post-test in both SRIS and TCTDI ( p < 0.01). The Pearson product-moment correlation analysis showed that SRIS and TCTDI were significantly positively correlated ( p < 0.01). ELP has a significant impact on the self-reflection and critical thinking of first-year nursing students, which can be used as a reference for the education of nursing students. During these turbulent times, it is especially vital for faculties to provide experiential learning instead of the traditional teaching concept.

The ongoing coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) epidemic continues to have a global impact. This article describes the author's experience providing nursing care to a female patient who was diagnosed with COVID-19 after returning to Taiwan from overseas. During the patient's period of isolation (February 5th to February 29th, 2020), the author used Roy's adaptation model to perform first-level holistic physical, psychological, and social nursing assessments and collected health-problem information using face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, and observations via a remote monitoring system. A second level of assessment confirmed that the problems faced by the patient included (1) existing infections related to COVID-19 and (2) anxiety related to uncertainties about disease prognosis, forgiveness from the family, and potential violations of personal privacy by the media. Due to the special nature of the isolation ward, the author used a remote physiological monitoring system to monitor the vital signs, fever, and shortness of breath status of the patient to quickly decrease her physical discomfort and to improve her self-care ability during hospitalization. Environmental cleanliness was strictly maintained to reduce the risk of cross-infection and ensure patient safety. To alleviate patient anxiety, the author established a good therapeutic interpersonal relationship with the patient by making 10-60 minutes of caring calls to her each day, by providing individual care measures, and by using the Internet to play audio and video to teach mindfulness meditation. Caring for COVID-19 cases is a completely new experience. The author hopes that this experience may be used as a reference for caregivers.