Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Nursing

Advisor

Donna Bailey

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected healthcare services and delivery and may leave unprecedented effects on nurses’ physical and mental health. Research is sparse on the pandemic’s effects on nurses, but studies have identified the stressful factors that may contribute to nurses’ health and well-being. The purpose of this qualitative interpretive phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients in the United States and discover how their experiences impact them on a personal and professional level. Hans Selye’s general adaptation theory served as the theoretical basis for this study with Edmund Husserl’s life worldview used as the conceptual model to guide the analysis. Nine semistructured interviews were conducted online via Zoom with nine registered nurses recruited purposively through social media and professional organizations. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, with transcripts analyzed using a modified van Kaam’s approach. Results included four themes: (a) secondary trauma, (b) burnout/ compassion fatigue, (c) post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and (d) turnover/leave nursing. Recommendations for future research are to develop and test programs that support nurses in maintaining good physical and psychological health along with providing a more supportive working environment. The findings of this study have potential implications for positive social change that may promote a healthier workforce better prepared for future workplace stressors such as Covid-19. Nurses who are supported physically and psychologically may have a more positive experience during high stress workplace events resulting in a stronger, effective nursing workforce.

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