Overcoming experience of nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 a hospital in Seoul

Abstract

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to explore the essential structure and meaning of the in-depth experience of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients, and to provide basic data for preparing a holistic response strategy in the event of a new infectious disease in the future. Methods : This is a qualitative study conducted using in-depth interviews with 10 nurses in charge of COVID-19 patients and analyzed using the Colaizzi analysis method(1978). Results : As a result of the study, 158 meaningful statements, 4 topic groups, and 11 topics were derived about the experiences of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients. The subjects discovered that the experiences of nurses caring for critically ill patients in unfamiliar environments, such as COVID-19 isolation wards and environments with insufficient response guidelines, were a new dimension that was different from nursing patients with infectious diseases in the existing nursing environment. Conclusion : This study looked at the role of nurses who were pivotal in overcoming the epidemic of new infectious diseases by exploring the experiences of front-line nurses in crisis situations of emerging infectious diseases, and analyzed and structured their experiences as a whole.