“I Called us the Sacrificial Lambs”: Experiences of Nurses Working in Border City Hospitals During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the personal and professional lives of frontline nurses. Purpose The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of Canadian Registered Nurses (RNs) working in Ontario or United States hospitals during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 36 RNs living in Ontario and employed either at an Ontario or United States hospital. Three main themes were identified across both healthcare contexts. Results 1) The Initial Response to the pandemic included a rapid onset of chaos and confusion, with significant changes in structure and patient care, often exacerbated by hospital management. Ethical concerns arose (e.g., redeployment, allocation of resources) and participants described negative emotional reactions. 2) Nurses described Managing the Pandemic by finding new ways to nurse and enhanced teamwork/camaraderie; they reported both struggle and resiliency while trying to maintain work and home life balance. Community responses were met with both appreciation and stigma. 3) Participants said they were Looking Forward to a “new normal”, taking pride in patient improvements, accomplishments, and silver linings, with tempered optimism about the future. Many expressed a reaffirmation of their identities as nurses. Differences between participants working in the US and those working in Ontario were noted in several areas (e.g., initial levels of chaos, ethical concerns, community stigma). Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic has been very difficult for nursing as a profession. Close attention to post-pandemic issues is warranted.

One‐year follow‐up of hospital nurses' work experiences during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A qualitative study

“…Participants talked about feelings of disrespect brought on by a lack of support from their communities and their workplaces; this was also found in our initial set of interviews (Menard et al, 2023) and corroborates findings in other parts of Canada (Havaei et al, 2021; Lavoie‐Tremblay et al, 2021) and around the world (Lee et al, 2021; Shahbaz et al, 2021). Many of the inequities in the workplace and experiences of stigma in the community first mentioned in our first set of interviews had persisted, and nurses' feelings of exasperation after a year of this treatment was clear.…”

“…Ontario RNs working in the US reported high levels of stigma from their fellow Canadians, due to (misplaced) perceptions that they were to blame for spreading COVID in their local communities. Many reported being refused services at local banks or medical treatments merely because they worked in the US (Menard et al, 2023).…”

“…The current follow‐up study aimed to explore any new or ongoing themes described by RNs in the year following their initial interviews. A secondary goal was to examine the unique challenges faced by Canadian nurses working in the US related to differing healthcare systems, hospital management practices, varying levels of pandemic intensity and the impact of community stigmatization, ostracization, and living situations, which emerged during wave 1 (Menard et al, 2023).…”

The Lived Experiences of Nurses Caring for Patients With COVID-19 in Arabian Gulf Countries: A Multisite Descriptive Phenomenological Study

“…They were living with doubts at the beginning of the pandemic because they were waiting for information about the new and unknown disease; they had no specific training and were also uncertain regarding its course of progression. Lack of information regarding the spread, prognosis, and specific management of COVID-19 have been documented elsewhere as key factors influencing nurses’ reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic ( Hu et al, 2021 ; Ménard et al, 2022 ; Mokhtari et al, 2022 ).…”

“…As the COVID-19 pandemic intensified, there was an urgent need for an in-depth understanding of nurses’ lived experiences and their fear, moral distress, and challenges they experienced when caring for COVID-19 patients. Since the beginning of the pandemic, many studies have explored nurses’ experiences of care of COVID-19 patients in different healthcare settings, including intensive care units ( Brockopp et al, 2021 ; Gunawan et al., 2021 ; Karimi et al, 2020 ; N. Lee & Lee, 2020 ; H. Lee et al, 2022 ; Melnikov et al, 2022 ; Ménard et al, 2022 ; Moore et al, 2022 ; Moradi et al, 2021 ; Perraud et al., 2022 ; Robinson & Stinson, 2021 ) . These studies were conducted in North America (USA, Canada), Europe (Sweden, Italy, France), and Asia (Chania, South Korea, Iran).…”