Reflections on the lived experience of working with limited personal protective equipment during the COVID‐19 crisis

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) has placed significant strain on United States’ health care and health care providers. While most Americans were sheltering in place, nurses headed to work. Many lacked adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), increasing the risk of becoming infected or infecting others. Some health care organizations were not transparent with their nurses; many nurses were gagged from speaking up about the conditions in their workplaces. This study used a descriptive phenomenological design to describe the lived experience of acute care nurses working with limited access to PPE during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Unstructured interviews were conducted with 28 acute care nurses via telephone, WebEx, and Zoom. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The major theme, emotional roller coaster, describes the varied intense emotions the nurses experienced during the early weeks of the pandemic, encompassing eight subthemes: scared and afraid, sense of isolation, anger, betrayal, overwhelmed and exhausted, grief, helpless and at a loss, and denial. Other themes include: self‐care, ‘hoping for the best’, ‘nurses are not invincible’, and ‘I feel lucky’. The high levels of stress and mental assault resulting from the COVID‐19 crisis call for early stress assessment of nurses and provision of psychological intervention to mitigate lasting psychological trauma.

“Goodbye … Through a Glass Door”: Emotional Experiences of Working in COVID-19 Acute Care Hospital Environments

“…While loss was prominent, and an inevitable part of sacrifice, nurses also shared accounts of how their professional identity and practice were positively impacted, thus pointing to possibilities for gain to co-exist alongside loss. Similar to other COVID-19 research ( Iheduru-Anderson, 2020 ; Sun et al., 2020 ), nurses in our study shared feelings of fear, isolation, anger, and frustration. They recounted how unrelenting fears of contracting the virus and infecting others drove them to sacrifice seeing family and friends.…”

“…As frontline providers, they spend sustained periods of time caring directly for patients and families, and working tirelessly to equip themselves with the knowledge about transmission, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of this novel virus. At the same time, they are dealing with many other issues involving compromised work conditions ( Thorne, 2020 ), increased workload with long hours, inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE) ( Iheduru-Anderson, 2020 ; Jackson et al., 2020 ), and a shifting knowledge base concerning COVID-19 transmission and virulence which has required them to engage in expanding their knowledge base and skill set ( Stokes-Parish et al., 2020 ).…”

Neonatal nursing during the COVID-19 global pandemic: A thematic analysis of personal reflections

“…Changes in hospital policies made to protect babies as well as healthcare professionals and their families were compromised of human qualities of care that were fundamental to their approach to neonatal nursing. The concern of infecting one's own family is a significant and understandable concern for nurses caring for COVID-19 patients ( Galehdar et al, 2020 ; Iheduru-Anderson, 2020 ; Liu et al, 2020 ). What is notable about the experiences of neonatal nurses, in contrast to adult intensive care nurses, is the tension experienced between providing protection alongside the human quality of care.…”

Influencing Factors of Psychological Well-Being of the Non-designated Hospital Staff in China During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Non-medical staff presented higher levels of anxiety and depression than medical staff in this survey, which is also stated in a previous study ( 39 ). Potential factors contributing toward this finding include that medical staff usually have more knowledge and experience in infection control measures, and they are more likely to be equipped with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) compared to non-medical staff ( 9 , 38 – 40 ). Current studies have reported that inadequate PPE, and having less pandemic knowledge and training are associated with higher levels of psychological distress ( 41 , 42 ).…”