Abstract Title: Positive and negative consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on SMEs in Sweden   Purpose The aim of this study is to identify the positive and negative consequences due to the covid-19 on SMEs in Sweden and further specify strategies Swedish SMEs used to manage the influences.    Methodology This study tends to show data, tables and figures based on Qualitative study and Semi-structured interviews and analysis of various related articles.    Finding & Conclusion We find out that small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) face different challenges during Covid-19. Such as failed projects, temporary closure, financial consequences, reduction of job opportunities and challenges of implementing new strategies. We surveyed eight companies during the pandemic crisis and found out how those companies are overcoming the pandemic crisis. Various strategies such as flexibility among SMEs, innovation, investment, digitalization, and other management practices have been implemented by Swedish SMEs to solve the challenges.   Contribution of the study The theoretical contribution is that we have enhanced the knowledge around the Covid-19 influences on SMEs and introduced the company's solutions regarding the impact of the pandemic. The theoretical contribution also showed that the Covid-19 have negative consequences. Another theoretical contribution is that the pandemic has a positive effect to some SMEs. Besides, the practical contribution is that we have provided new data from eight SMEs during the Covid-19 pandemic.   Reflections and suggestions for future research The study focused on understanding the challenges and positive negative influences of the Covid-19 pandemic on only eight SMEs operating in Stockholm city of Sweden. Future studies can focus on finding challenges from Covid-19 pandemic on SMEs and large firms in different countries as well as regions. It could be also interesting to compare the strategies followed by the Swedish SMEs with SMEs from other countries to safeguard from the influences of Covid-19.

Learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has included disruption, uncertainty, and additional stress for students. Adverse learning outcomes are a growing concern especially for vulnerable groups, such as middle school students. While COVID-19 research in academic fields is currently emerging, more research needs to address the specific experiences of middle school students. The current study examined the relationship between COVID-19 related stress (distress or fatigue) and student outcomes (student engagement and school aversion) for a sample of middle school students (N = 301). Specifically, coping (i.e., emotion regulation strategies) and perceptions of school climate were examined as mediators in the above relationship. Findings indicated that COVID-19 fatigue was inversely related to student engagement and positively related to school aversion. Emotion regulation mediated this relationship such that utilizing adaptive emotion regulation strategies promoted student engagement and dampened school aversion in relation to COVID-19 fatigue. School climate was also a significant mediator above and beyond the role of emotion regulation such that positive perceptions of school climate promoted engagement and reduced school aversion. A deeper explanation of the importance of regulation and the way middle schoolers perceive school rules and supports in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic is discussed. / Graduate

The first reported case of COVID-19 in Tennessee (TN) occurred on March 5, 2020, growing to 580,809 cases state-wide by the end of 2020. A GIS dashboard was developed using data from the TN Department of Health to communicate state-wide COVID-19 spread, and a relationship between pandemic development and rurality was observed during the first wave (through September 2020), noted in other US and global research. Because > 90% of TN counties are designated rural or mixed-rural, we examined metrics to describe development as it relates to rurality. Metrics included days to the first case/hospitalization/fatality, days between state and county peak, and days to an incidence rate of ten per 100,000. Metrics were compared within different classes of rurality, using seven rurality classification schemes. Significant differences were noted in four of the five metrics between classes of rurality. Rural counties in TN experienced significant lags to the first case, hospitalization, and fatality, and the peak cases in rural counties were delayed relative to urban counties when outlier counties with early state prison outbreaks were excluded. In rural TN counties, regardless of rurality definition, cases, hospitalizations, and fatalities were slower to appear. However, once community spread was established, rurality no longer had a protective effect.

The COVID-19 Pandemic created a two-fold challenge for journalists: first, the task of gathering and distributing information vital to the responses of the public, and second, the challenge of mitigating the complexities of the journalism field. The purpose of this study is to connect the theoretical frameworks of metajournalistic discourse and field theory, using the touch point of journalistic practice. Prior research has postulated that metajournalistic discourse operates as a stabilizing force in the journalistic field. Using the timely test of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study seeks to explore the discursive construction of journalistic practice during a pandemic through the lens of both metajournalism and field through metadiscourse (n=141) gathered from the United States, United Kingdom, and Austria. This study will argue that metajournalistic discourse stabilizes the field by affirming the tools western journalists use in order to make sense of a crisis like COVID-19, and by providing a discursive avenue between the ideals of the journalistic field—in the journalistic doxa—and the habits of the field—as represented by journalistic habitus.

The ongoing Covid- 19 pandemic has globally affected aspects such as health, economy and welfare all around the world. The demand for effective communication is to a very high degree a priority from the leading actors in society, such as the media, government and authorities, in order to respond to the spread of infection. The purpose of this bachelor’s essay is therefore, to study how countries like Sweden and Denmark communicate the crisis of Covid- 19, based on Arjen Boins theoretical framework of meaning-making. The frame functions consist of the following: explaining what happened, offering guidance, instilling hope, showing empathy and state responsibility. Meaning making is an important function in crisis communication to reduce political and public uncertainty through crisis communication by the political leaders in crisis management. The political leaders seeks to convince the general public by formulating a convincing message.  The design of this essay is comparative, where the methods consist of a qualitative approach through the use of text analysis. Prime ministers and state epidemiologists will be analyzed on the basis of their participation in press releases. The time period was selected between march-may 2020. The reason for the selected time period is based on the first wave of the virus.  The conclusion of this essay was that there were many similarities and differences in the countries application of meaning making. The noticeable similarities was that both countries have similar characteristics in their communication by helping the nations make sense of the crisis situation. Both countries provide the nation with guidelines which includes, social distancing, good hand hygiene and participation restrictions. However, it differs in how they communicate it. Sweden communicates the providing of guidelines through the assessment of the public health authority, which relies on the responsibility of the individual. Denmark, on the other hand, communicates the guidelines by the Prime Minister deciding on mandatory restrictions, through a total shutdown on society. Furthermore, communication differs on state responsibility, where Sweden used a different strategy which was intended to slow down the spread of infection by not shutting down society. Denmark communicated state responsibility by saying that strict measures are necessary in such types of situations, which allowed for the restriction of civil liberties and rights. The use of empathy and instilling hope were less salient, but both countries did use the strategy by informing that they will beat the spread of the virus together.

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This study explores students' and their families' experiences during the pandemic response to COVID-19 by the higher education community. Using the hermeneutic phenomenological approach, we employed two open-ended surveys and semi-structured interviews of 16 parent-college student dyads (N = 34). The study draws on students' and parents' retrospective accounts beginning Spring 2020 through the Fall 2020 semesters. Families experienced a disruptive event initialized by the ebb and flow of information. Students' experiences varied based on their expectations and academic classification. The most consistent family challenges were the displacement of students and parents from their physical education and work locations while having to maintain student and occupation responsibilities. The educational experience was inconsistent and dependent on each professors' capacity to engage the students in the online environment. Students expressed feelings of loss of their student and educational experiences, but most students felt the spring courses prepared them to continue their education. Assignments due at random times and poor communication about expectations inhibit students from having dedicated time to interact and make memories. Most families adapted to the new normal by supporting the family members' identities as students and employees and ensuring everyone had the resource needed to succeed. Families experienced monotony and temporal disorientation. Families made meaningful memories through conversation, outdoor recreation, and other activities outside the daily routine. Family members provided feedback to one another to help the family maintain a stable system.

Bakgrund: Covid-19 spred sig snabbt och snart var hela världen drabbad och sjukhusen överbelagda med covid-19-smittade patienter. Sjuksköterskor hade ansvaret att ge patienter adekvat och säker vård samtidigt som sjuksköterskors kompetensbeskrivning var att ge personcentrerad vård samt vårda patienter utifrån ett livsvärldsperspektiv. Sjukvårdsorganisationen hade svårt att tillgodose vårdavdelningar med tillräckliga resurser vilket resulterade i att sjuksköterskors arbetsmiljö påverades negativt. Syfte: Belysa sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att arbeta under covid-19 pandemin. Metod:Metoden som användes var en allmän litteraturöversikt av artiklar med både kvalitativ och kvantitativ metod som tagits fram genom systematisk artikelsökning i olika databaser. Resultat: I studiens resultat indentifierades tre huvudteman: Fysisk och psykisk påverkan på sjuksköterskor som beskriver utmanande arbetssituationer,stressfaktorer, prioriteringar av vårdinsatser, erfarenheter av hjälplöshet samt känsla av skyldighet. Det andra huvudtemat som togs fram var organisation och ledarskap som beskriver vikten av närvarande ledning, sjuksköterskors behov av stöd, organisatoriska utmaningar samt otillräckliga resurser. Information och utbildningsbehov är tredje huvudtemat som förklarar brist på information och utbildning samt betydelsen av yrkeserfarenheten. Konklusion: Sjuksköterskor var i behov av tillräckliga resurser från sjukvårdsorganisationen för att ge säker vård till patienterna. Erfarenheter tyder på att stöd var av största vikt för att förebygga fysisk och psykisk påverkan på sjuksköterskor. / Background: Covid-19 spread rapidly and soon the whole world was affected and the hospitals were overcrowded with covid-19-infected patients. Nurses were responsible for providing patients with adequate and safe care, while at the same time the nurses' description of competence was to provide person-centered care and care for patients from a life-world perspective. The healthcare organization found it difficult to provide care wards with sufficient resources, which resulted in the nurses' work environment being negatively affected. Aim: Highlight nurses' experiences of working during the covid-19 pandemic. Method: The method used was a general literature review of articles with both qualitative and quantitative methods developed through systematic article search in various databases. Findings: The results of the study identified three main themes: Physical and psychological impact on nurses that describe challenging work situations, stress factors, priorities of care interventions, experiences of helplessness and feelings of guilt. The second main theme that was developed was organization and leadership, which describes the importance of present management, nurses' need for support, organizational challenges and insufficient resources. Information and training needs are the third main theme that explains the lack of information and training and the importance of professional experience. Conclusion: Nurses were in need of sufficient resources from the healthcare organization to provide safe care to the patients. Experience suggests that support was of paramount importance in preventing physical and psychological impact on nurses.

This thesis addresses food security and road development in Tuktoyaktuk (population 995), a primarily Inuvialuit (Indigenous, Inuit) community in the western Canadian Arctic. Initially, I had hoped to conduct interviews in Tuktoyaktuk to better understand how the new Inuvik-to-Tuktoyaktuk Highway (ITH), opened in 2017 (the first highway to the Arctic Ocean) had affected food security in Tuktoyaktuk. This plan was interrupted. // INTERRUPTION \\ --THIS THESIS HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED \\ What do we do when our plans are forced to change? How do we react, adapt, and overcome these changes? How do we reflect on such interruptions? These questions are the underlying essence of this thesis and they reflect my experience of engaging in Arctic community-based research during the COVID-19 pandemic. This thesis presents two articles that are a result of many interruptions. The first (1) is an econometric evaluation of the cost of food before and after the opening of the ITH and the subsequent rescission of the Nutrition North Canada federal food subsidy program to the now road-accessible community of Tuktoyaktuk. The results suggest a significant increase in market basket prices which can be attributed to the opening of the highway and the subsidy loss (+CAD$44, SE = 16.77, p = 0.02). This research is the first to document the impacts of highway development on food prices in Arctic Indigenous communities. The second (2) is a co-authored methods piece about friendship, reciprocity, and reconciliation between two young women; a 17 year old Inuvialuit journalist and myself, a 25 year old Québécoise Master’s student, navigating research for the first time and during the pandemic. In the process, we reflect on what reconciliation means to us and provide recommendations for Arctic community-based research in a post-pandemic world. // BREAK. BREAK. THIS THESIS IS AN INTERRUPTION \\ In form and content, this thesis offers a reflection on the process of conducting and writing about research, juxtaposing qualitative (at times creative) and quantitative methods under a community-based research framework for working with Inuit.

The rise of the virus called Covid-19 was not expected to have such an impact on theworld in its early stages. However, Covid-19 became an international problem and madehumans and states vulnerable in many aspects. Among others, Sweden, and its publicadministration. The purpose of the study is to analyse whether the authority,Försäkringskassan, and if its nearbureaucrats' independence was affected by thepandemic. The question formulations of this study are: which effects did the pandemichave on Försäkringkassans independence and did the workers there get moreindependent in relation to Försäkringskassans management? The methods implementedare qualitative methods with a deductive approach and semi-structured interviews. Theresults of this study conclude that Försäkringskassan did not receive increasedindependence because of the pandemic, it did in fact get more administered by theGovernment. The study also shows that when discussing their relations toFörsäkringskassans management, most of the respondents expressed that it hadn’t beenaffected by the pandemic because their relationship wasn’t convenient orwell-established to begin with.