Introduction: In the spring of 2020, the Covid-19 outbreak led to closure of many faculties, forcing them to continue the educational process online. For students of health faculties, who have to complete practical training in clinical setting as part of their studies, the situation may increase the possibility of work-overload. The work-overload can become even greater for students who cannot adapt to distance learning. Purpose: The aim of our research was to determine the level of work-overload experienced by nursing students, to discover which online tools were most commonly used and which distance learning methods the students found most suitable. Methods: We used a quantitative cross-sectional study based on a non-experimental descriptive method. A questionnaire with closed and opened questions was designed for this purpose. The survey data was processed using the EnKlikAnketa website, which provides multitables, frequencies and graphs. Results: The questionnaire was completed by 187 nursing students between 20 and 49 years of age, 163 of whom were female and 24 male. Most of them were not employed during their studies, some had student jobs and some were fully employed. For most students the greatest burden both before and during the epidemic were their study obligations. The most commonly used distance learning tools were Zoom meetings, Moodle online classroom, and Cisco Webex, all of which the students found easy to use. The students found the best ways to receive their study materials were through the Moodle online classroom, via e-mail and in the form of online lectures. In general, the students were satisfied with distance learning, their only complaint was that their professors and faculties have not adapted as well. However, during the epidemic most of the students missed physical socialisation with their classmates and the majority connected with them online, mostly related to studies. Discussion and conclusion: We found that both before and during the epidemic, their study obligations caused the largest work-overload for the students. The students have not experienced much difficulties adapting to the use of online tools, but they have had problems with uneven workload, poor adaptability of professors and educational institutions, and technical problems. They found that the best ways of distance learning were at least partially led and supervised by the professors (assignments in the Moodle online classroom, communication via e-mail and videoconferences). However, in general the students believe that they have reached the expected level of knowledge during the epidemic.
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