A Qualitative Study on the Care Experience of Emergency Department Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background: The rapid spread of the disease has severely impacted healthcare systems around the world. There is a lack of evidence related to the care experience of emergency department nurses. Objective: To understand the care experience and thoughts of emergency department nurses during the COVID-19 epidemic. Methods: Purposive sampling was used to recruit 16 emergency department nurses from a medical center, and a semi-structured interview was used for data collection. The enrollment period was from 28 July 2021 to 30 October 2021. Thematic content analysis was used for data analysis. Results: The care experiences of emergency department nurses during the COVID-19 epidemic can be classified into three themes and six sub-themes. Theme 1: I am the gatekeeper; theme 2: Care and environment challenges: difficulties with equipment and environment, managing patient’s and family members’ emotions, insufficient manpower of care; theme 3: Conflicting emotions: worrying about being infected or transmitting the disease, needs of effective support and empathy, and lack of understanding and discrimination towards the occupation. Conclusion: Emergency department nurses adhered to professional awareness and responsibility during the epidemic and play a critical role in epidemic prevention.

Cognitive appraisals and coping strategies of registered nurses in the emergency department combating COVID‐19: A scoping review

“…After the COVID‐19 outbreak, 48.2% of EDRNs intended to leave emergency nursing within 5 years (Cornish et al, 2021). To control COVID‐19, EDRNs worried that triage errors would lead to the spread of the pandemic or cross‐infection (Hsu et al, 2021; Xu et al, 2021). The shortage of clear protocols for care, insufficient PPE, and poor separation of risk patients led EDRNs to work in a chaotic environment (Arcadi et al, 2021; Hsu et al, 2021; Kandemir et al, 2021).…”

“…The secondary appraisal to effectively handle and control the pandemic‐related challenges was that EDRNs proactively updated comprehensive information about COVID‐19 (Cinar et al, 2021; Hsu et al, 2021; Kandemir et al, 2021; Wei et al, 2020). EDRNs knew that the main barrier to triage management was the poor prevention and control knowledge of the epidemic because the situation of the COVID‐19 pandemic is unprecedented (Mulyadi et al, 2022; Syapitri et al, 2022; Xu et al, 2021).…”

“…To control COVID-19, EDRNs worried that triage errors would lead to the spread of the pandemic or cross-infection (Hsu et al, 2021;Xu et al, 2021). The shortage of clear protocols for care, insufficient PPE, and poor separation of risk patients led EDRNs to work in a chaotic environment (Arcadi et al, 2021;Hsu et al, 2021;Kandemir et al, 2021). Insufficient human resources, heavy workload, and exhausting dressing and undressing PPE procedures altered EDRNs' perception of space and time, resulting in an enormous physical strain (Cinar et al, 2021;Jose et al, 2020;Xu et al, 2021).…”

“…Accepting responsibility and emotional expression could mitigate negative emotions and improve well-being among nurses(Montgomery et al, 2021). In the same vein, improving professional recognition has the potential to enhance EDRNs' engagement and increase their satisfaction(Chipps et al, 2021;Hsu et al, 2021).There are several components of the stress-coping process pursued by EDRNs in dealing with COVID-19. Sufficient PPE and clear guidelines are vital factors in maintaining a safe workplace for combating the pandemic(Chen et al, 2020;Jose et al, 2020;Liu, Luo, et al, 2020).…”

Intelligent IoT (IIoT) Device to Identifying Suspected COVID-19 Infections Using Sensor Fusion Algorithm and Real-Time Mask Detection Based on the Enhanced MobileNetV2 Model

“…Vaccinating the entire world population is an ideal way to stop pandemics, but many countries are poor, and their healthcare systems are not advanced enough to provide vaccine for all population. Moreover, H.C Hsu presented the effects of COVID-19 on healthcare workers; for example, nurses are overworking and are under pressure; thus, it will take a long time to reach an ideal situation [ 6 ]. In the era of globalization, it has been difficult to travel during pandemic conditions.…”