Experiences of intensive care unit nurses with COVID-19 patients

Abstract

Objective: To understand the experiences of intensive care unit nurses who provide care to patients with COVID-19. Methods: Qualitative study grounded in Alfred Schütz’s social phenomenology in which 20 nurses who work in intensive care units at public and private hospitals were interviewed between July and September 2020. Data were analyzed according to the adopted theoretical-methodological framework and the literature related to the subject. Results: The interviewed nurses mentioned demands about working conditions, professional recognition and training, and support to physical and mental health, which proved necessary considering the care intensity experienced by these professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: Learning the nurses’ experiences evidenced the need to adjust to a new way of providing care that included the physical space, new institutional protocols, continuous use of protective equipment, and patients’ demand for special care. This originated the necessity to be around situations that interfered with their health and motivated them to carry out professional projects after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Experiences and needs of front-line nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis

“…Of the 70 included studies, nineteen were from China (13,(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39), sixteen were from Iran (9,11,12,(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52), eight were from Turkey (53)(54)(55)(56)(57)(58)(59)(60), seven were from US (61-67), three were from Italy (10,14,68), two were from Spain (69, 70), two were from South Korea (16,71), two were from Canada (72, 73), two were from Brazil (74,75), two were from the Philippines (76,77), and the remaining seven were from Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Demark, Leba...…”

“…When they had to deal with everything on their own, they felt helpless and devastated (71, 79). The fear of being infected and the fear of infecting family and others still persisted among nurses (9,14,23,25,27,33,34,40,42,56,59,60,63,70,74,75,78,84), so some of them checked that PPE was used in a correct way repeatedly (27) and hoped not to be infected (62). Some even questioned the effectiveness of PPE (71, 75, 84) and felt as if infected with the slightest symptom (16,25).…”

“…Sometimes, there was nothing to do but watch the patients suffering (30,31,35,38,49,50,66,82). Patients with COVID-19 were separated from their families, making patients, their families, and nurses sad and anxious (74,83). The increased number of infections and death tolls, especially the infection or death of colleagues, also made nurses feel distress and fear of death, contributing to the emotional exhaustion (9, 14, 31, 33-35, 37, 40, 42, 43, 48, 59, 60, 63, 71, 73-75, 82-84).…”

“…With more patients improved and recovered, nurses' psychological problems were reduced than before (33). They adapted to the work and took pride of their work again (25,34,50,58,63,66,74,83). The nurses were happy and grateful to be able to help patients through their profession gradually (32,48,58,66,75), although some of them were worried and scared at the same time (75).…”

COVID-19 e burnout: como estão os profissionais de terapia intensiva?

“…Além de gerar impacto aos profissionais de saúde, esse distúrbio pode comprometer o atendimento aos pacientes, sendo necessárias medidas de apoio à saúde física e mental desses profissionais (Faria et al, 2021). Durante a pandemia por COVID-19 o sofrimento psíquico dos profissionais de saúde veio acompanhado por relatos de medo de contrair a doença e, fatores como, contaminação de familiares e de pacientes de outros setores, dúvidas quanto aos protocolos hospitalares e uso de EPI e aumento das demandas são apontados como atenuantes na percepção de estresse desses profissionais, especialmente para os que atuam em Unidades de Terapia Intensiva (Horta et al, 2022;Conz, 2021). Apesar dos problemas mentais e funcionais em equipes de Terapia Intensiva apresentarem causas complexas e multifatoriais, observou-se uma piora à medida que casos de COVID-19 aumentaram (Hall, 2022).…”