Evaluation of experiences of the patients discharged from the COVID-19 intensive care unit: a qualitative research

Abstract

Making arrangements by learning how intensive care patients feel due to a disease called as fatal worldwide can make it easier for patients to cope with the disease. For this reason, it is important for healthcare professionals to understand the patients who have been infected and discharged during the COVID-19 pandemic. The experiences of the patients may affect the perspective of the disease and cause different changes in the perception of it. This study, which was conducted based on this idea, aimed to examine the intensive care experiences of patients discharged from the COVID-19 intensive care unit. This study used a phenomenological qualitative approach. A semi-structured interview form was used to interview 23 patients discharged from the COVID-19 intensive care unit. The findings were reported on the basis of consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research. In line with the data obtained from the interviews, five main themes and eight subthemes were created. The main themes were classified as emotional expressions (positive/negative) related to intensive care experience, coping methods, analogies (for COVID-19 and nurses) and attitudes towards the care provided (respiration, nutrition, excretion and privacy, sleep, communication). In this study, the participants experienced negative emotions such as fear of death/anxiety, sadness, loneliness, and helplessness during their intensive care experiences. Most of them stated that they tried to cope with prayer and communication. The participants compared COVID-19with deadly and respiratory-inhibiting tools and diseases. They expressed difficulties in breathing, nutrition, excretion and privacy, sleep and communication related to the care provided. In this process, they made positive analogies for the nurses who spent the most time with them, such as angels and family members.

Identifying social determinants of health in populations exposed to structural inequities: a qualitative study of the COVID-19 pandemic experiences of Black and Latinx people living with HIV and cardiovascular risks

“…Qualitative research is an ideal method for documenting and describing the in-depth perceptions, lived experiences, and intersecting inequities experienced by hard-to-reach populations that may be poorly understood or have received scant research attention (23,24). The historical lack of attention paid to subpopulations exposed to structural inequities limits our ability to understand the impact of SDOH on health behavior risk and protective factors.…”

“…The limited resources and barriers to care experienced by populations exposed to structural inequities further impedes researchers’ ability to reach and engage these communities, resulting in fewer studies that meaningfully assess their lived experiences. Qualitative research is an ideal method for documenting and describing the in-depth perceptions, lived experiences, and intersecting inequities experienced by hard-to-reach populations that may be poorly understood or have received scant research attention ( 23 , 24 ). The historical lack of attention paid to subpopulations exposed to structural inequities limits our ability to understand the impact of SDOH on health behavior risk and protective factors.…”