Frontline nurses caring for COVID-19 patients: Experiences from the perspective of Turkish nurses.

Abstract

Nurses were affected by this pandemic more than any other healthcare professionals because they were working on the frontline continuously. The current study explored how nurses who care for patients with COVID-19 assess this process which they experienced, how they coped with the process, and their psychological experiences. The study was conducted by reaching out to the nurses working at pandemic clinics using the snowball sampling method. A total of 40 nurses were interviewed using telephone. The study employed a descriptive qualitative approach. The data were obtained through telephonic interviews that were performed by the researcher using interview forms. The interview notes were analyzed using the content analysis method according to Colaizzi's phenomenological method. As a result of the content analysis, four themes emerged with the following headings: Initial reactions, factors that made an adaptation to the period of pandemic challenging, factors that facilitated the adaptation, and what the period of pandemic taught. It is suggested for nurses that their rotation should be planned effectively, and their social support should be enhanced. They should be provided with adequate personal protective equipment and human resource planning should be improved until the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.