Patient care experiences of long-term care hospitals nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: A phenomenological study

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe and understand the meaning and essence of care experienced by long-term-care-hospital nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study is a phenomenological study by Colaizzi (1978) to understand and identify the meaning and essence of long-term-care-hospital nurses' experiences after the COVID-19 outbreak. Data collection was conducted from April to June 2021 for 10 nurses working at a long-term-care hospital. Interviews were conducted face-to-face or non-face-to-face. The face-to-face interviews were conducted in a space following COVID-19-mandated quarantine rules. Results: Seven theme clusters and 24 themes emerged: chaos experienced during the early stage of the pandemic, lack of a standardized care protocol hindering care delivery in long-term-care hospitals, sympathizing with the sorrows of patients and their families, taking the burdensome task of COVID-19 infection control as a nurse, COVID-19 vaccine-related anxiety, anger at the reality of long-term-care hospitals and the stigmatizing society, and hope for recovery from the disaster caused by COVID-19. Conclusion: This study will be helpful in establishing long-term-care policies and systems that will help improve the ability of long-term-care hospitals to cope with a pandemic in the post-COVID-19 era.

Evaluation of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in different high-risk facility types during a period of Delta variant dominance in the Republic of Korea: a cross-sectional study

“…In addition, well-trained management personnel are recommended. Finally, future case studies based on field epidemiological investigations, such as this study, to analyze the effectiveness of infection control measures according to medical personnel standards in infection-prone facilities and obtain information from nursing hospitals during the COVID-19 outbreak can support the establishment of scientific evidence to formulate future infection control policies [ 33 ].…”