Abstract:
This qualitative study aimed to explore the lived experiences of nurses caring for patients with coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) in an intensive care unit (ICU) by conducting in-depth interviews in combination with audio recordings, observation and field notes. Purposive sampling was used to select 15 nurses caring for patients with coronavirus 2019 in an ICU and Martin Heideggers hermeneutic phenomenology was applied as the research methodology. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by using Van Manen's (Van Manen, 1990) method of content analysis. The findings of this study of the experiences of nurses caring for patients with coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) in an intensive care unit (ICU) revealed the following 5 major themes. 1. Caring for infected patients with overwhelmed feelings because coronavirus 2019 is an emerging disease included the following sub-themes: 1.1) Feeling like working in a battlefield, 1.2) Feeling stressed and pressured due to providing care under unfamiliar conditions, 1.3) Fear of being infected by patients, 1.4) Grieving because patients die every day, 1.5) Being nervous in the chaotic situation of caring for patients, 1.6) Physically exhausted after providing care, but willing to keep up the fight, and 1.7) Being proud of the ability to help this group of patients. 2. Caring with combining previous experiences with new knowledge ; included the following sub-themes: 2.1) Caring for patients on ventilators in a prone position, 2.2) Closely monitoring respiratory condition and, immediately notifying a doctor if any changes are detected, 2.3) Securing ventilator connectors, so they do not become detached, 2.4) Observing dialysis solution and fluid through the monitor, and 2.5) Using a defibrillator instead of CPR when patients are on ECMO. 3. Caring with humanized care ; included the following sub-themes: 3.1) Caring with empathy and mindfulness by asking and expressing concern about their feelings, 3.2) Connecting patients and their families, and 3.3) Providing end-of-life care by concerning service standards and patient/family needs. 4. Problems and obstacles to providing care included the following sub-themes : 4.1) Limited communication among team members, and 4.2) Limited communication among patient and their family. 5. Lessons learned from caring for patients included the following sub-themes: 5.1) Learning new things for self-improvement, 5.2) Achieving results from team dedication, 5.3) Accountability and critical care nursing value, and 5.4) Reflective thinking from a personal perspective. These findings provide information for nursing administrators to promote and support various aspects of nursing practice and building self-worth for nurses in caring for patients with coronavirus 2019 in intensive care units. Moreover, the findings can be used in developing guidelines for effectively improving the quality of nursing care in similar situations potentially occurring in the future.