Aim This multisite study describes the lived experience of registered nurses (RNs) caring for coronavirus (COVID‐19) patients during the pandemic in rural America. Design A qualitative phenomenological design was used. Methods From January to June 2021, using the purposeful sampling method, 19 frontline nurses were interviewed regarding their experience caring for seriously ill COVID‐19 patients in three Upper Midwest tertiary care hospitals. Three doctoral prepared nurses transcribed and analyzed verbatim interviews with data interpreted separately and conjointly. Approved qualitative methods specific to transcendental phenomenology were used. Results This phenomenological study identified four themes describing the lived experience: (1) feeling of being overwhelmed, (2) feeling of role frustration related to chaos in the care environment, (3) feeling of abandonment by leaders, families, and communities, and (4) progressing from perseverance to resilience. Implications for Practice Significant implications include ensuring frontline RNs are in communication with leaders, and are involved in tactical planning. Leaders can provide a stabilizing presence, build resilience, confidence, and security. Recommendations for additional research are provided. Conclusion Nurses in intensive care and COVID‐19 designated medical units had experiences similar to high population United States and international cities. Their shared experience included high volumes of critically ill patients in hospitals frenzied by rapid change, uncertainty, and capacity strain. Differences in the experience of rural nurses included close social connection to patients, families, and community members. This rural connectedness had both positive and negative effects.

As a result of the COVID‐19 pandemic, newly graduating nurses have entered into rapidly changing clinical environments, experiencing healthcare in a manner for which they were not fully prepared. The purpose of this study is to describe the lived experience of these newly graduated registered nurses (RNs) who transitioned to practice during the COVID‐19 pandemic, and to gain understanding of how to better prepare future graduates for similar situations. A multisite qualitative phenomenological design was used in this study of 12 frontline nurses that graduated in the spring of 2020 and transitioned into their new role as RNs. A trained research team conducted semistructured interviews and completed a thematic analysis of the data. The results were six themes that emerged from the study participants' interviews: (1) fear, (2) emotional conflict, (3) self‐doubt, (4) alone, (5) communication barriers, and (6) finding the positive.

CANCER TREATMENT OFTEN CAUSES HIGH LEVELS OF STRESS, affecting patients' quality of life and outcomes and necessitating a holistic approach to care. Patients with cancer may also experience physiologic stress from the disease process or cancer treatment and its side effects. According to Hoffman, McCarthy, Recklitis, and Ng (2009), cancer survivors often report an increased prevalence of serious psychological distress, including patients who have been in remission for five years or longer. In addition, patients with cancer are often hospitalized because of acute conditions. In a study by Numico et al. (2015) on hospital admissions of patients with cancer, 74% of admissions were urgent and 80% were a result of uncontrolled symptoms. The top troublesome symptoms reported by patients in Numico et al.'s (2015) study were dyspnea (16%) and pain (15%). Sixty-one percent of the patients in Numico et al.'s (2015) study were discharged to home, 26% died during hospitalization, and 11% were transferred to a palliative care setting. Being in the hospital may be a stressful experience for many patients because of the unfamiliar environment, feeling a loss of control, noise, an inability to fulfill roles in the family, worries about financial issues, the fear of the unknown, and the unpredictability of their response to cancer treatment (Abuatiq, 2015).Healthcare providers are in a strategic position to identify and minimize the anticipated stressors of patients and caregivers, particularly during the hospitalization phase. Identifying appropriate interventions to minimize patient and caregiver stressors has the potential to promote effective disease management, encourage family participation in the care plan, and improve the quality of health care. Describing and understanding the stressful experiences of patients and their family caregivers can allow healthcare providers to implement stress reduction strategies that improve patients' overall satisfaction with the care that they receive during hospitalization. This study describes patients' self-reports of stress and caregivers' perceptions of the stress experienced by patients during hospitalization for cancer. Theoretical FrameworkStress is a highly subjective experience that can prompt an acute onset of physical, emotional, and mental strain, which may affect a patient's ability to heal and cope (Papathanasiou, Tsaras, Neroliatsiou, & Roupa, 2015). The concept of stress is defined as "a state of mental or emotional strain KEYWORDS

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