Workplace challenges and nurses recovered from COVID-19

Abstract

Background: Although many studies have addressed COVID-19, the challenges faced by nurses in their workplace after recovering from this disease have not been investigated. As the backbone of the health system and at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19, nurses are exposed to serious risks of infection and even death. They may also face numerous challenges in their workplace after recovering from COVID-19. It is therefore ethically recommended that the problems of these nurses be solved to increase their job satisfaction and encourage them to remain in their profession. Objectives: The present research was conducted to determine the workplace challenges faced by nurses who had recovered from COVID-19. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted using the interpretive phenomenological approach proposed by van Manen. The data collected through 17 in-depth semi-structured interviews with 14 eligible nurses at different occupational levels were analyzed using the six steps proposed by van Manen. These nurses had also recovered from COVID-19. Ethical considerations: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Urmia University of Medical Sciences (IR.UMSU.REC.1399.318). Findings: Four themes and 20 subthemes extracted from analyzing the data explained the challenges faced by the nurses after their return to work. The themes included declined ethical values (four subthemes), infected nurses, forgotten patients (three subthemes), gradually leaving the job (six subthemes), and corona phobia (seven subthemes). Conclusion: The present findings can be used to lay the foundations for adopting humanitarian policies in health organizations in terms of ethical care provision during future pandemics.

Exploring the Experience of Healthcare Workers Who Returned to Work After Recovering From COVID-19: A Qualitative Study

“…However, the vital experience of healthcare workers who returned to work after infection was overlooked, and this special group has received little attention until now. Only one qualitative study has been conducted on this topic, but the sample of the study included only nurses rather than both nurses and physicians ( 41 ). Our study investigated both nurses and physicians to provide comprehensive evidence on this topic.…”

Ethical dilemmas experienced by nurses while caring for patients during the COVID‐19 pandemic: An integrative review of qualitative studies

“…A total of seven articles had the main objective related to topics on nurses' ethics during the COVID‐19 pandemic (Abbasinia et al, 2021 ; Alloubani et al, 2021 ; Jia et al, 2021 ; Karaca & Aydin Ozkan, 2021 ; Liu et al, 2021 ; McMillan et al, 2021 ; Rezaee et al, 2020 ; Stenlund & Strandberg, 2021 ), four articles (Kelley et al, 2021 ; Kwon & Choi, 2021 ; Moghaddam‐Tabrizi & Sodeify, 2021 ; Muz & Erdogan Yuce, 2021 ) had nurses' experiences in care of patients with COVID‐19 as main objective, one article (Silverman et al, 2021 ) was about moral distress in nurses caring for patients with COVID‐19, and the remaining article (Mohammadi et al, 2021 ) was conducted with nurses who were infected with COVID‐19. The participants' perceptions of ethical dilemmas are presented in the results of all 14 articles.…”

“…Even if nurses were afraid of caring for patients with COVID‐19, they were aware that it was their duty as nurses to care for patients regardless of their illnesses (Alloubani et al, 2021 ; Kelley et al, 2021 ; Liu et al, 2021 ; Muz & Erdogan Yuce, 2021 ; Silverman et al, 2021 ); they were concerned with providing safe care to patients updating themselves (Karaca & Aydin Ozkan, 2021 ), and they were reminding each other all the time about the need to protect themselves and patients (Liu et al, 2021 ). However, nurses believe that they should not be forced to care for COVID‐19 patients because some nurses could be pregnant or have elderly family members (Alloubani et al, 2021 ), and an unhealthy and stressful nurse is not able to take care of others well (Mohammadi et al, 2021 ; Muz & Erdogan Yuce, 2021 ). Nurses can feel powerless when trying to do the right thing in a time of uncertainty (Moghaddam‐Tabrizi & Sodeify, 2021 ; Muz & Erdogan Yuce, 2021 ; Stenlund & Strandberg, 2021 ).…”

“…The principle of justice was mentioned by nurses who became infected with COVID‐19, according to them, while they were patients their rights were not respected and they did not receive equal treatment (Mohammadi et al, 2021 ). Nurses also emphasized the lack of professionalism that generated inequality between nursing and other professions (Kelley et al, 2021 ; Mohammadi et al, 2021 ); nurses stayed at patients' bedsides at all times, whereas doctors avoided entering the wards (Jia et al, 2021 ; Kelley et al, 2021 ). Even cleaning staff avoided entering the patients' rooms, and cleaning was often done by nurses (Kelley et al, 2021 ).…”

Insecure Employment Contracts during the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Need for Participation in Policy Making

“…Iranian nurses who provide direct clinical care and health practice in hospitals or community health centers have experienced many challenges during COVID-19, including anxiety, stress, fear of being judged, frustration, worrying about self/others, feeling abandoned, physical exhaustion, living with uncertainty, and social stigma [ 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 ]. In addition, nursing shortages, insufficient protective equipment, lack of support from healthcare officials, and excessive workloads have contributed to nurses’ willingness to quit their job [ 75 , 76 , 77 , 79 ].…”