The pandemic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought significant pressure on nurses globally as they are the frontline of care. This study aimed to explore the experiences and challenges of nurses who worked with hospitalised patients with COVID-19. In this qualitative study, a purposive sample of 14 nurses participated in in-depth telephone interviews. Data were analysed using Colaizzi’s phenomenological method. Five key themes emerged: (1) physical and psychological distress of nurses, (2) willingness to work, (3) the essential role of support mechanisms, (4) educational and informational needs of nurses and (5) the role of modern technology in COVID-19 care. Although the provision of care led to physical and psychological distress among nurses, with their commitment and professional obligation, it is a new experience that leads to personal satisfaction. Guilty feeling related to inefficiency of care, witnessing the suffering of patients, discomfort associated with wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), work-related issues (e.g., long hour shifts), negative impact to the family and rejection by others are the leading distress factors. Religious beliefs, including keeping trust in good and bad merits, have become a strong coping mechanism. Addressing distress among nurses is essential. The reported learning needs of nurses included skills related to donning and doffing PPE, skills in performing nursing procedures and breaking bad news. Nurse managers need to pay special attention to expanding training opportunities as well as support mechanisms, for example, welfare, appreciations and counselling services for nurses. Modern technology, particularly robots and telecommunication, can perform an essential role in COVID-19 care. The establishment of timely policies and strategies to protect health workers during a national disaster like COVID-19 is needed.

Objective: To estimate the global risk and risk factors associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) among patients with COVID-19: Design: A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression. Setting and Participants: Hospitals or nursing homes and patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome after COVID-19. Methods: The literature review was systematically conducted on Embase, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Web of Science, in addition to manual searches and reference list checking from 1 January 2019 to 2 March 2022. The search terms included coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome, acute respiratory distress syndrome and observational studies. Three reviewers independently appraised the quality of the studies and extracted the relevant data using the Joanna Briggs Institute abstraction form and critical appraisal tools. A study protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022311957). Eligible studies were meta-analyzed and underwent meta-regression. Results: A total of 12 studies were included, with 148,080 participants. The risk ratio (RR) of ARDS was 23%. Risk factors were age ≥ 41–64 years old (RR = 15.3%, 95% CI =0.14−2.92, p = 0.03); fever (RR = 10.3%, 95% CI = 0.03−2.03, p = 0.04); multilobe involvement of the chest (RR = 33.5%, 95% CI = 0.35–6.36, p = 0.02); lymphopenia (RR = 25.9%, 95% CI = 1.11–4.08, p = 0.01); mechanical ventilation with oxygen therapy (RR = 31.7%, 95% CI = 1.10–5.25, p = 0.002); European region (RR = 16.3%, 95% CI = 0.09–3.17, p = 0.03); sample size ≤ 500 (RR = 18.0%, 95% CI = 0.70–2.89, p = 0.001). Conclusions and Implications: One in four patients experienced ARDS after having COVID-19. The age group 41–64 years old and the European region were high-risk groups. These findings can be used by policymakers to allocate resources for respiratory care facilities and can also provide scientific evidence in the design of protocols to manage COVID-19 worldwide.

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