Experiences of Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

Background The first wave of coronavirus disease 2019 was a global event for which nurses had limited time to prepare before receiving an influx of high-acuity patients and navigating new plans of care. Objectives To understand nurses’ lived experiences during the COVID-19 outbreak and to examine their resiliency. Methods A convergent mixed methods design was applied in this study. For the quantitative portion, resiliency was measured by using the Brief Resilience Coping Scale. Colaizzi’s phenomenological method was used for qualitative analysis. Results A total of 43 nurses participated in the study. The mean score on the Brief Resilience Coping Scale was 14.4. From 21 robust narratives, Colaizzi’s qualitative method yielded 5 themes to describe the experience of being a nurse during the pandemic. Conclusions Understanding the lived experience provides a unique lens through which to view nursing during a global pandemic, and it serves as a starting point to ensure future safeguards are in place to protect nurses’ well-being.

Everyone is Someone's Child: The Experiences of Pediatric Nurses Caring for Adult COVID-19 Patients

“…The emotional response that evolved out of participants" experiences is not unique to pediatric nurses grappling with an adult pandemic. The findings of this study are consistent with adult acute care and critical care nurses" experiences caring for COVID-19 patients; nurses around the world shared the same uncertainty with the frequently changing guidelines, the same helplessness watching patients deteriorate, the same J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f stress and emotional exhaustion, and the same worry of becoming exposed and exposing others (Iheduru-Anderson, 2020;Lapum et al, 2021a;LoGiudice & Bartos, 2021;Schroeder et al, 2020). Nurses underwent significant changes in their practices and battled a virus that had no consistency in scientific understanding, all while risking their own lives (LoGiudice & Bartos, 2021).…”

“…Many of the nurses in this study did not feel prepared nor safe for the role they were undertaking, nonetheless, they endured the unpredictability of the pandemic. Nurses remained committed to their roles and to their patients; echoing others ( Lapum, Nguyen, Fredericks, et al, 2021 ; LoGiudice & Bartos, 2021 ; Schroeder et al, 2020 ), pediatric nurses were proud to provide nursing care. Even when outside of their comfort zone, participants retained and valued their professional nursing identity.…”

“…A concern shared by almost all participants was the lack of proper PPE. Nurses feared contamination, exposure, and illness ( Iheduru-Anderson, 2020 ; Lapum, Nguyen, Fredericks, et al, 2021 ; LoGiudice & Bartos, 2021 ). With a nationwide shortage of the essential PPE, institutions followed the CDC (2020b) guidelines to optimize use of PPE, which advised healthcare workers to extend the use and reuse PPE.…”

“…Nurses relied on each other for restorative emotional support, but also for physical support ( LoGiudice & Bartos, 2021 ). Teamwork was characteristic of pediatric nurses' experiences, and for the majority, teamwork was positive.…”

“…As they care for a surge of patients, a myriad of emotions pervaded nurses from frustration and uncertainty to acceptance and resilience ( Fernandez et al, 2020 ; Lapum, Nguyen, Fredericks, et al, 2021 ). For many, fear of contagion and inadvertent disease transmission emanated, and feelings of isolation and loneliness followed ( Fernandez et al, 2020 ; Lapum, Nguyen, Fredericks, et al, 2021 ; LoGiudice & Bartos, 2021 ). Yet, amidst the challenges of weathering a new disease, a systematic review on nurses' pandemic experiences revealed they remained committed to providing quality patient care ( Fernandez et al, 2020 ).…”