Personal Experiences of Nurses in Caring for COVID-19 Patients: A Qualitative Survey

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the whole world’s healthcare system in a frightful way. This pandemic has proved that nurses are essential for managing such situations.
Purpose: The current study aims to assess nurses’ personal experience in caring for COVID-19 patients.
Methods: 14 nurses were recruited using a phenomenological approach, who provided care for COVID-19 patients in the Karuna Hospital, Sendhwa, India from January to February 2020. Purposive sampling was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with them and data were analysed by Colaizzi’s phenomenological method.
Result: All the participants in the study were females. The personal experiences of the nurses who cared for COVID-19 patients were encapsulated into 4 themes. These themes included (a) fear and anxiety (b) pressure to work in COVID-19 units (c) recognisable experience (d) coping methods. During COVID-19, nurses are feared about fear of infection, COVID-19, and high mortality rate. It was found that nurses worked under pressure due to a shortage of nurses and high number of patients. Participants were anxious about their own healthcare needs. In order to cope with the situation, participants experienced psychological defence mechanisms.
Conclusion: We found that nurses were afraid of getting an infection from the patient side in the initial stages and later they identified their role and performed it with confidence. They practised relaxation techniques to reduce the fear of infection. Nurses developed selfcoping styles and provided support services to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, providing fundamental data for further intervention.

How to cite this article:
Soniya Rasheed A, Yohannan V, Thurkkada AP. Personal Experiences of Nurses in Caring for COVID-19 Patients: A Qualitative Survey. Int J HealthCare Edu & Med Inform. 2023;10(1&2):1- 7.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2455.9199.202301