Nurses lived Experiences, burdens and coping strategies during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract This is a qualitative interpretative phenomenological study which was designed to navigate through nurses’ lived experiences, burdens and both positive and negative coping strategies while working with COVID-19 patients. The sample included 20 nurses who had worked with COVID-19 patients for more than or equal to six months in the country’s variable health sectors. The interviews were conducted between 1,October,2021 and 15,April,2022. At that time, the third COVID wave had elapsed and we were peaking on a fourth pandemic wave, so included participants had lived through a minimum of two to three peaks. Six themes had emerged which were: nurses coping with COVID-19 crisis, professional relationship burden, personal burden, environmental burden, physical symptom burden and emotional burden of the crisis. Nurses lived experiences during the pandemic were deep and intense and moderately to highly affecting their ways of thinking, feeling and behaving. Certainly such experience had opened nurses eyes on countless number of challenges that could be faced during the times of adversity which requires special attention, care and preparation on many levels. The minimal preparatory levels are personal, departmental, organizational and strategic at the level of country’s proactive health planning.