Experiences of Nurses Caring for Patients Diagnosed with Covid-19: A Qualitative Study
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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10045707Keywords:
Covid-19, Nurse, Pandemic, Qualitative Research, ExperienceAbstract
Objectives: This study was conducted in order to study in depth the experiences of nurses who care for patients diagnosed with Covid-19.
Materials and Methods: In the study, a phenomenological pattern from qualitative research methods was used. The study group of the research included 35 nurses working in the units of a state hospital that care for patients diagnosed with Covid-19 between May 2022 and July. Intense sampling technique, which is a purposive sampling method, was used in the selection of the sample and the sample size was formed by 7 nurses. A semi-structured interview form was used to collect the data. In the evaluation of the findings obtained from the interviews, inductive content analysis method was used. The data were analyzed using the MAXQDA 2020 program.
Results: In line with the research findings, themes and sub-themes were determined from the expressions of the nurses. According to this; 4 themes were determined as "difficulties they experienced", "effects on their lives", "emotions they feel" and "coping methods" of nurses who care for patients with a diagnosis of Covid-19. In the context of the theme of the effects on nurses' lives who work during the Covid-19 pandemic, sub-themes emerged as ‘effects on their perspectives on life’, ‘effects on their professional lives’, and ‘effects on their family and social lives’.
Conclusion: The results obtained from this study showed that nurses who care for patients with a diagnosis of Covid-19 experience difficulties due to stigmatize and their superiors' management of the process. The causes of this process includes working in difficult conditions such as the intensity of the number of patients, insufficient number of nurses, inability to reach treatment and care, and frequently encountering death cases; professional problems such as not being appreciated, loneliness and burnout; family and social life problems such as fear of losing loved ones, being asocial, fear of contagion, and disruption of family interactions. It has been revealed that nurses use sports, crying and medical treatment methods to cope with these negativities. Despite all the negativities, it has been observed that this process also provide positive awareness in nurses’ outlook on life. According to the results obtained from the research, it was suggested that awareness-based approaches should be applied, and financial and psychological support interventions should be offered in order to increase nurses' well-being, to become aware of the emotions they feel, to change their perspectives, to cope effectively and to develop their problem solving skills.
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