Nursing students on the frontline: Impact and personal and professional gains of joining the health care workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain

•Final-year nursing students boosted the healthcare workforce during COVID-19 in Spain.•The experience of working during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted in nursing students.•The wish to help, the sense of moral duty and the opportunity to learn buffered the impact.•Working during COVID-19 outbreak was a source of personal and professional growth.