Qualitative Analysis of Quality of Life of Frontline Health Care Workers During Covid-19 Pandemic in Lagos State

Abstract

Frontline health care workers seem to be the most affected category of people during any pandemic. Therefore, the study assessed quality of life of frontline health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Lagos State. This study adopted descriptive phenomenology research design. An interview guide was used to determine quality of life of frontline healthcare workers. The sample consisted of 14 interviewees while qualitative data collected were subjected to thematic analysis. The result of findings revealed that frontline health workers experienced fatigue, discomfort, helplessness, fear and concern for COVID-19 patients, and traumatic experiences. Findings further revealed that there was too much workload at a time because of the increased COVID-19 patient compared to the available volunteers, fear of contracting the virus, the joy of seeing their patients getting well and reuniting back with their families. It was recommended among others that the welfare of health care workers should be put as priority in Lagos State and Nigeria in general as this may discourage brain drain causing limited number of frontline healthcare workers available during outbreak of infectious disease.