Nurses’ Perceptions of Expected Organizational and Professional Support in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: Nurses, as health advocates and front-line fighters in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, experience severe professional stress and psychological crises. Objectives: The present study was conducted to explain the nurses’ perception of expected organizational and professional support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In this qualitative study, data collection was performed through semi-structured, individual, and in-depth interviews. A total of 20 nurses participated in the study through purposive sampling. The data were collected within June-October 2021. The collected data were analyzed based on Granheim and Lundman’s method. Results: The findings of the study were presented in the form of 4 main themes and 10 subthemes, including lack of physical support (i.e., lack of tools and equipment and problems concerning using personal protective equipment to care for COVID-19 patients), lack of psychological support (i.e., paying attention to nurses’ job stress and mutual understanding of managers and nurses), lack of welfare support (i.e., high workload, financial support, providing facilities for nurses for employment, and providing facilities to support staff in childcare), and weakness in efficient crisis management (i.e., insufficient attention of managers to the principles of crisis management and the lack of a standard infectious disease hospital for COVID-19 patients). Conclusions: Health system policymakers should provide comprehensive physical, psychological, and welfare support for nurses, effective professional and organizational context, and efficient crisis management to improve the quality of care.