Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Exploring the experiences of nurses and physicians infected with COVID‑19

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Maryam Moghimian
. Kolsoum Farzi 1
. Sedigheh Farzi 2
. Azam Moladoost 3
. Simin Safiri 4

1 Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran

2 Department of Adult Health Nursing, Nursing and Midwifery Care Research Centre, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

3 Department of Psychology, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran

4 Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Health‑care providers, including physicians and nurses, are vital resources of the
health‑care system, and their health is essential to ensure safe care and to control outbreaks in the
community. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of physicians and nurses infected
with COVID‑19.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive exploratory qualitative study was conducted in 2020.
To conduct this study, 19 participants (5 physicians and 14 nurses) were selected using purposive
sampling. Data were collected using semi‑structured interviews. Data analysis was performed using
conventional content analysis.
RESULTS: Eight main categories of “Fear and anxiety,” “Fighting against COVID‑19,” “Feeling
abandoned during home quarantine period,” “Denial of disease despite testing positive,” “Recovery:
the second opportunity,” “Imposition of psychological burden after returning to work,” “Promotion of the
health professional perception,” and “Promising supportive resources,” as well as 21 subcategories,
were extracted from the participants’ experiences.
CONCLUSION: The experiences of physicians and nurses with COVID‑19 revealed that their
perception of the profession and providing care had changed. This experience has highlighted the
focus and effort to promote patient‑centered care and interprofessional collaboration among them.

Keywords

COVID‑19
experiences
nurse
physician
qualitative
  1. Organization WH. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19):
    Situation Report, 209. World Health Organization WH; 2020.
    2. Pourmalek F, Rezaei Hemami M, Janani L, Moradi-Lakeh M.
    Rapid review of COVID-19 epidemic estimation studies for Iran.
    BMC Public Health 2021;21:257.
    3. Li L, Xv Q, Yan J. COVID-19: The need for continuous medical
    education and training. Lancet Respir Med 2020;8:e23.
    4. McDermott MM, Newman AB. Preserving clinical trial integrity
    during the coronavirus pandemic. JAMA 2020;323:2135-6.
    5. Marjanovic Z, Greenglass ER, Coffey S. The relevance of
    psychosocial variables and working conditions in predicting
    nurses’ coping strategies during the SARS crisis: An online
    questionnaire survey. Int J Nurs Stud 2007;44:991-8.
  2. 6. Adams JG, Walls RM. Supporting the health care workforce
    during the COVID-19 global epidemic. JAMA 2020;323:1439-40.
    7. Chang D, Xu H, Rebaza A, Sharma L, Dela Cruz CS. Protecting
    health-care workers from subclinical coronavirus infection. Lancet
    Respir Med 2020;8:e13.
    8. Liu S, Yang L, Zhang C, Xiang YT, Liu Z, Hu S, et al. Online mental
    health services in China during the COVID-19 outbreak. Lancet
    Psychiatry 2020;7:e17-8.
    9. Salemi S, Shamsi SH, Mirzabaigi GH, Sanjari M, Ala M. Quality
    of life Iranian nurses. J Mashhad School Nurs Midw 2010;10:1-13.
    10. McElligott D, Siemers S, Thomas L, Kohn N. Health promotion
    in nurses: Is there a healthy nurse in the house? Appl Nurs Res
    2009;22:211-5.
    11. Anatolian News Agency. The Medical Staff Makes up about
    14% of People with Corona Virus in the World. Available from:
    https://www.aa.com.tr/fa/. https://www.aa.com.tr/fa/.last
    access, 20 Aprill 2021.
    12. Munhall P. Nursing Researh. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett
    Publishers; 2007.
    13. Graneheim UH, Lundman B. Qualitative content analysis in
    nursing research: Concepts, procedures and measures to achieve
    trustworthiness. Nurse Educ Today 2004;24:105-12.
    14. Guba EG. Criteria for assessing the trustworthiness of naturalistic
    inquiries. Educ Technol Res Dev 1981;29:75-91.
    15. Shihata S, McEvoy PM, Mullan BA, Carleton RN. Intolerance of
    uncertainty in emotional disorders: What uncertainties remain?
    J Anxiety Disord 2016;41:115-24.
    16. Zarghami M. Psychiatric aspects of coronavirus (2019-nCoV)
    infection. Iran J Psychiatry Behav Sci 2020;14:2019-21.
    17. Datta R. COVID-2019: Experience of setting up quarantine center.
    J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol 2020;36:S14-8.
    18. Hu Y, Sun J, Dai Z, Deng H, Li X, Huang Q, Xu Y. Prevalence and
    severity of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19): A systematic
    review and meta-analysis. J Clin Virol 2020;127:1-7.
    19. Chen Y, Xiao H, Yang Y, Lan X. The effects of life review on
    psycho‐spiritual well‐being among patients with life‐threatening
    illness: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. J Adv Nurs
    2017;73:1539-54.
    20. Pinto S, Fumincelli L, Mazzo A, Caldeira S, Martins JC. Similarities
    among the concepts. Porto Biomed J 2017;2:6-12.
    21. Arab M, Hamouzadeh P, Yousefvand M, Namani F, Abdi M.
    Comparison of patient-centered situation in selected hospitals
    affiliated to Tehran University Of Medical Sciences from the
    viewpoint of nurses and patients. J Hosp 2016;15:31-9.
    22. He Y, Zhou YH, Hou AH. The impact of organizational climate
    and psychological empowerment on nurses’ job burnout. J Nur
    Adm 2015;15:685-8.
    23. Dehnavi H. The Participation of Patients in Their Services is Low;
    2015. Available from: http://healthcareimprovement.ir. [Last
    accessed on 2018 Jul 02].
    24. Xu MC, Zhang Y. Psychological status survey of first clinical firstline support nurses fighting against pneumonia caused by a 2019
    novel coronavirus infection. Chin Nurs Res 2020;34:368-70.
    25. Agarwal UA, Khatri N. The relationships between perceived
    organizational support, affective commitment, psychological
    contract breach, organizational citizenship behavior and work
    engagement. J Adv Nurs 2016;72:2806-17.
    26. Wu F, Sheng Y, Zhang YJ, Zhu LL, Liu XH. Qualitative study on
    rescue experience of nurses in disaster response: A meta synthesis.
    J Nurs (China) 2019;26:28-33.
    27. Liu QQ, Li RQ, Geng XW. Survey of status quo of nurses’
    cognition level and attitude to disaster nursing. Chin Nurs Res
    2011;25:3028-30.
    28. Qureshi K, Gershon RR, Sherman MF, Straub T, Gebbie E,
    McCollum M, et al. Health care workers’ ability and willingness
    to report to duty during catastrophic disasters. J Urban Health
    2005;82:378-88.
    29. Campoe K. Inter-Professional Collaboration during COVID-19.
    Medsurg Nursing 2020; 29(5):297-298.
Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 12, Issue 1
January 2022
Pages 1-8

Home

Guide for Authors

Submit Manuscript

Reviewers

Contact Us