“Feeling Like an Island”: Perceptions of Professional Isolation Among Emergency Nurses

Abstract

IntroductionProfessional isolation, feelings of being isolated from one’s professional peers and lacking mentoring and opportunities for professional interaction, collaboration, and development, is a challenge for workers across the labor market. The notion of professional isolation is particularly prevalent in low-resource health care settings and is common among emergency nurses. MethodsThis study explored the perceptions of professional isolation among emergency nurses working in a low-resource environment using individual interviews with 13 participants in 5 settings in Lesotho. ResultsThe data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis and revealed an overarching theme of “feeling like an island” containing 3 categories, namely lack of interprofessional collaboration and consultation, skills mismatch, and enforced loneliness. DiscussionThis study suggests that lack of interprofessional collaboration and consultation, skills mismatch, and enforced loneliness have influenced feelings of professional isolation among emergency nurses working in low-resource environments. The findings of this research lend support to the idea that communities of practice may have a potential impact in addressing professional isolation.