Coping strategies that motivated frontline nurses while caring for the COVID‐19 patients during the pandemic: A scoping review

Abstract

Background The world faced a great health crisis during the covid‐19 pandemic. Consequently, the healthcare providers struggled and faced tremendous difficulties in treating high‐load critical patients. This was particularly true in low‐ and middle‐income countries where the work and patient loads are always higher and nurses at the forefront must deal with emergencies while being at high risk of exposure. However, little is known about the survival strategies of frontline nurses as dealt with the pandemic. Objectives This study catalogued the coping strategies of frontline nurses to deal with caring for the covid‐19 patients during the pandemic. Methods The Arksey O'Malley framework was followed to conduct a scoping review. A systematic literature search was conducted using three databases: Google Scholar, Scopus, and PubMed and out of the 192 studies, 12 met the inclusion criteria set for this review study. Results A total of 44 strategies were identified that motivated nurses to deal with the covid‐19 situation, and these strategies could be categorized into five main themes: nurses’ self‐strategies, nurses’ strategies at the ethical level, employers’ strategies, nursing leaders’ strategies, and supplementary strategies. Conclusions The findings of this study will provide guidance for healthcare workers, employers, policy makers, regulators and other stakeholders to adopt and promote different strategies in managing difficult emergency situations in future. Implications for nursing management This study emphasizes the importance of learning how to deal with adversity by healthcare workers and organizations in an emergency.

Facing the unknown COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study with nurses and nursing assistants in three European countries

“…Although these study participants relied on self-care coping strategies, several described developing new strategies and rituals for taking care of themselves. Similar qualitative evidence uncovered healthcare professionals' self-strategies to deal with difficult situations (11,42,47,51). These strategies help nurses and nursing assistants to become more professional and inspire them in mindfulness.…”

“…They got new information online, followed infection control procedures, and used appropriate PPE and protection techniques to reduce stress. Literature data also show that access to reliable information is the most common way of reducing adverse consequences of distress and maintaining a sense of security ( 39 , 42 , 47 ). Similar to previous studies, our study participants used positive attitudes, clear hospital policies, and infection prevention knowledge to reduce team stress during the COVID-19 outbreak, helped their colleagues by teaching them updated skills and techniques, and provided a team approach ( 16 , 41 , 48 ).…”

Stressors, coping strategies and intention to leave the nursing profession: A cross‐sectional nationwide study in China

“…Regarding the coping strategy, more than 70% of nurses considered talking to family and friends as the most effective way to deal with stress. Friends/family members are usually seen as important sources of social support for they could provide comfort, offer constructive advice and reduce negative feelings (Liu & Aungsuroch, 2019; Rony et al, 2022; Woodhead et al, 2016). Our finding that talking to with family and friends was significantly associated with lower turnover intention confirmed the positive role of social support in decreasing nurses' intention to leave the profession (Fronda & Labrague, 2022).…”

Coping strategies adopted by frontline nurses in dealing with COVID‐19 patients in a developing country during the pandemic: A qualitative study

“…The current study revealed that nurses could maintain self‐control while caring for COVID‐19 patients amid the terrible pandemic. Emotional self‐control enables nurses to handle their job workloads better and develop self‐confidence and self‐resilience (Hatami et al, 2022 ; Rony et al, 2022 ). It can help resolve work‐related conflicts by developing work engagement, empathy for patients and passion for nursing tasks in the clinical setting (Cuartero & Tur, 2021 ).…”