Nursing during the COVID‐19 outbreak: A phenomenological study

Abstract

Aim The aim of this study was to explore the experience of Italian nurses engaged in caring for patients with COVID‐19. Background COVID‐19 found the health care world unprepared to face an emergency of such magnitude. Italy was one of the most affected European countries, with more than 250,000 cases. Understanding the impact of events of this magnitude on nurses provides a framework of knowledge on which educational training could be based to face similar situations in the future to prevent further breakdown. Methods The hermeneutic approach by Cohen was used. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted using a voice‐over Internet protocol. Interviews were transcribed, read in depth and analysed. Results Twenty nurses were interviewed. Four themes were extracted: uncertainty and fear, alteration of perceptions of time and space, change in the meaning of ‘to care’ and changes in roles and relationships. Conclusions Psychological support in association with emergency training prevents stress and helps tackle compassion fatigue. Implications for nursing management Policies to improve nursing science should be developed to ensure better quality of care, a higher number of professionals and, consequently, an increase in the safety of patients.

A Phenomenological Study of Nurse Managers’ and Assistant Nurse Managers’ Experiences during the COVID‐19 Pandemic in the United States

“…One relevant theme, the impact of uncertainty, that related to nursing care during the pandemic, has been attributed to continually changing protocols for practice interventions; this may also be experienced by nurse managers (Sadati, Zarei, Shahabi et al, 2020; Sun, Wei, Shi et al, 2020). Emotional and physical exhaustion, as well as nurses’ fear of contagion in other qualitative studies, was also a prevalent theme in the research findings (Arcadi et al, 2021; Cui et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2020). In most of the qualitative studies reviewed, researchers found front‐line nurses experienced an eventual positive outcome of their caring, that of promoting personal and professional growth (Cui et al., 2020; Karimi et al., 2020; Lee & Lee, 2020).…”

The Psychological Impact of COVID-19 on Front Line Nurses: A Synthesis of Qualitative Evidence

“…Concerning the paradigmatic approaches used in the analyzed studies, seven used content analysis [ 28 , 29 , 34 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ], one the narrative analysis [ 32 ], three the phenomenological-descriptive approach [ 27 , 31 , 35 ], one the phenomenological-hermeneutic [ 30 ], and another the phenomenological approach without specifying the type [ 33 ]. In relation to data collection techniques, ten studies used semi-structured interviews [ 27 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ] and three used in-depth interviews [ 28 , 29 , 35 ].…”

“…The total sample of the studies was 239 nurses, mostly women. The studies were conducted in Iran [ 27 , 28 , 29 ], Turkey [ 30 , 31 ], Canada [ 32 ], Italy [ 33 ], China [ 34 , 36 , 37 , 38 ], the United States of America [ 35 ], and Spain [ 39 ].…”

‘The office of disaster management’ nurse managers' experiences during COVID‐19: A qualitative interview study using thematic analysis

“…Nurse managers are leaders who are central to organizational success (Rafferty et al, 2005 ), an integral part of an effective COVID‐19 response (Retzlaff, 2020 ), and a crucial population to impact clinical outcomes. Although nurse managers have been identified as contributing to an ineffective pandemic response by some clinical nurses (Arcadi et al, 2021 ), these perceptions have not been explored from a nurse manager perspective.…”