Views and Experiences of Nurses Receiving Care as Inpatients: An Empirical Qualitative Study From Ankara.

Each named author has substantially contributed to conducting the underlying research and developing or reviewing this manuscript. Study design: S.A., Ş.G. and L.D. Data collection: S.A. and Ş.G. Data analysis: S.A., Ş.G. and L.D. Study supervision: L.D. Manuscript writing: S.A., Ş.G. and L.D. Critical revisions for important intellectual content: Ş.G. and L.D.

Before the study was carried out, written permission from the hospital nursing services directorates, approval from the Hacettepe University Non‐Interventional Clinical Research Ethics Committee (ethical number: GO 18/470–15), and verbal and written consent from the nurses who agreed to participate in the research were obtained. The Helsinki Declaration was followed in conducting the study.

The research was conducted as a qualitative study using a descriptive phenomenological design based on Husserl's philosophy to better understand the views and experiences of nurses transitioning from the role of care providers to that of care recipients. Phenomenology focuses on capturing individuals' understanding, feelings, perspectives and perceptions related to a specific phenomenon, providing insights into how they experience it (Creswell and Creswell 2018 ). This approach is widely used in nursing practice in line with the holistic principles of nursing, which prioritises meaningful experiences and interactions during patient care (Lopez and Willis  2004 ). Phenomenology, as a qualitative research design, is rooted in Husserl's philosophy. It seeks to identify and examine shared experiences regarding a particular phenomenon, allowing for a nuanced exploration of how individuals describe and emotionally experience events (Patton  2014 ). Husserl emphasised that phenomenological research should provide a rich, in‐depth description of the phenomenon, rather than a superficial account (Abalos et al.  2016 ). He argued that individuals' descriptions of their experiences are valuable insights into the phenomenon being studied (Creswell and Creswell 2018 ). In this study, the phenomenon was defined as ‘the views and experiences of nurses receiving inpatient care’. To reveal the views and experiences of the nurses, participants were encouraged to express the essence of their experiences and describe what those experiences felt like emotionally. In interpreting the nurses' narratives, a hermeneutic approach was adopted, which considered both the objective actions of the researcher and their interpretive interactions with the text. This perspective emphasises understanding how individual parts contribute to a holistic understanding of the experience (McConnell‐Henry, Chapman, and Francis  2009 ). The research was conducted with nurses working in two universities, three training and research hospitals, and a private hospital in Ankara, the capital city of Türkiye, between July 2018 and June 2020, and receiving inpatient care and treatment for any reason. The research was conducted using the snowball sampling approach, one of the purposeful sampling methods (Shorten and Moorley  2014 ). The snowball sampling method provides for the inclusion of participants who readily meet the study's criteria and creates scenarios in which information about new participants can be acquired during the interview with these individuals (Patton  2014 ). When the data began to repeat, the data collection process was terminated (Merriam  2015 ). Five (5) nurses contacted to be included in our study's sample declined to participate because they did not want to remember their previous bad experiences. The study was completed with nine (9) nurses. Inclusion Criteria : Provide nursing care in a clinical setting Received inpatient hospital care for any reason in the past 6 months Experienced at least one night of nursing care Volunteered to participate in the research Provide nursing care in a clinical setting Received inpatient hospital care for any reason in the past 6 months Experienced at least one night of nursing care Volunteered to participate in the research Exclusion Criteria : Hospitalisation for childbirth Hospitalisation for childbirth The participants who fit the research criteria were found by interviewing the nursing services directorates of the hospitals after receiving ethics committee approval and written permission from the hospitals. New participants were invited to the research using the snowball method through the participants who agreed to participate. The research data were collected through face‐to‐face interviews using a ‘semi‐structured questionnaire’ prepared in accordance with the literature. The questions of the semi‐structured questionnaire are presented in table format (Table  1 ). Appointments were made to explain the purpose of the research to all participants and determine the place and time of the interview. Before the interview, all participants verbally and in writing stated that they agreed to be included in the study voluntarily and consented to their voices being recorded throughout the interview. Interviews were conducted by female nurse researchers, experts in their fields and experienced in qualitative research. The interviews were conducted by the first author, the moderator and the second author, who recorded the audio and kept the interview notes in a quiet room in the clinics where the participants worked. Each interview was assigned an alphanumeric code, for example, ‘N1’, to protect the anonymity of the nurses. The interviews were completed in an average of 30 min. The semi‐structured questionnaire. Could you briefly introduce yourself? Could you give brief information about your health problem that requires hospitalisation? (For what reason, how long, in which clinic did you stay?) Does your health problem continue? Have you fully recovered? What did it mean to you to be hospitalised as a patient? Could you share your feelings, thoughts, and experiences about receiving care as a patient? (What does it mean to you to receive care, to be cared for by someone else, to need care?) How should good care be provided? How has receiving care as a patient affected your view and perception of care? What kind of changes did be in the hospital lead to roles and responsibilities as a nurse? The study's data followed Colaizzi ( 1978 ) seven‐step descriptive phenomenological data analysis process (Colaizzi  1978 ). Thinking that the objective examination of human experience should be performed with a phenomenological explanation, Colaizzi developed the analytical method for analysing data consistent with descriptive phenomenology. After the interviews recorded on the voice recorder were transferred to the computer environment, they were transcribed by someone independent of the study. The second author validated the accuracy of the transcriptions by listening to the audio recordings several times. Following Colaizzi's seven‐step descriptive phenomenological data analysis process, in the first step, the transcripts were read repeatedly by the first and second authors to get an idea about the content. Each transcript was read in detail in the second step, and critical statements about the phenomenon under examination were determined. These statements were recorded in a separate document indicating the page and line numbers. The selected essential statements were carefully evaluated and coded in the third step. In the fourth step, the coded expressions were organised into themes. In the fifth step, a comprehensive description of the phenomenon whose consequences are studied was written. In the sixth step, the basic structure of the phenomenon was explained. In the last step, the participants were asked whether the basic structure of the phenomenon reflected their experience and feedback was received. The reliability of the study was evaluated according to the credibility, transferability, confirmability and dependability criteria suggested by Guba and Lincoln ( 1994 ). To ensure credibility, participants listened to the data obtained at the end of the interview, added any additional comments they wished and reviewed the accuracy of the audio recording. In conducting the interviews according to the principles of Husserl's phenomenology, the researcher aimed to maintain a neutral stance to truly capture (bracketing) the essence of the participants' experiences. This involved setting aside prejudices, assumptions and personal interpretations, allowing participants to express their views freely (Alhazmi and Kaufmann  2022 ). To ensure transferability, the study procedure (the form of the study, the data collection tools, the research implementation, the data analysis, and how the findings were organised) was described in detail. The first author listened to the audio recordings, compared them with the transcriptions and made the necessary corrections and forwarded them to the second author. The second author then listened to the audio recordings and compared them with the transcriptions, confirming that there were no discrepancies. This process provides a check to ensure confirmability and helps avoid biases arising from the interviewer's prior knowledge, feelings and thoughts. Quotations were made from the data obtained from the interviews to reflect the general answers and support the themes. In addition, the participants were asked to evaluate the consistency of their answers with the study's findings. To ensure dependability in this research, the first author, the moderator and the second author made the audio recordings within the scope of the triangulation method. All interviews were conducted in similar environments with the same data collection tools, and the same researcher copied all audio recordings. Each transcript obtained from the research was analysed independently by the authors. All authors discussed the findings after the initial analysis and agreed on the study findings. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) checklist was used in reporting study findings. COREQ is a guideline developed to ensure comprehensive reporting of qualitative research studies, particularly in terms of methods, findings and interpretations. Including a mention of adherence to COREQ guidelines can strengthen the transparency and credibility of qualitative research by demonstrating a systematic approach to reporting qualitative data collection and analysis methods (Tong, Sainsbury, and Craig  2007 ). Approval from the University's Non‐Interventional Clinical Research Ethics Committee (ethical number: GO 18/470–15), written permission from the hospital nursing services directorates, and verbal and written consent from the nurses who agreed to participate in the research were obtained before the study was conducted. The study was conducted following the Helsinki Declaration.

All the nurses participating in the study were female; their average age was 34.44 ± 7.53 (min: 24, max: 44), and the average working time as a nurse was 13.11 ± 7.00 (min: 2, max: 21). Participants received inpatient treatment for 1 to 5 days due to various health problems. The health problems of the participants were excision of the mass from the forearm, abscesses in the throat, conjunctivitis, hyperemesis, cholecystectomy, operated endometriosis, varicectomy and bariatric surgery. As a result of the analysis, the themes of care‐receiving experiences, the components of good nursing care and change in perception of care emerged (Table  2 ). Themes revealed after analysis. It has been determined because of the nurses' inpatient care experience that they have feelings of being dependent on others, the anxiety of being a burden, fear and uneasiness, needing an empathetic approach and loneliness, a strange feeling, trust and sadness. One participant expressed the feeling of being dependent on others: ‘You get rid of your personality that you feel safe or trust someone when you are working, and it is as if you become dependent on someone. Whether it's your wife, your sister, the nurse, and the physician, you are ultimately dependent on them in some way, and it was a very short period for me, but one that I will never forget’. (N1). The participant expressed the anxiety of being a burden as follows: ‘…being dependent, it does not matter how many close friends or beloved ones you have, you always think that am I a burden to them, am I giving them difficulties with certain things, am I interrupting their sleep at night, am I complicating their daytime work and you pray somehow and you want to regain your health as soon as possible, and you wait’. (N1). Another participant expressed their fear as follows: ‘Staying in the hospital as a patient scares people a little bit more as we consider the hospital as a workplace when we are working, I think this is what I experienced’. (N5), and another participant expressed their uneasiness as follows: ‘All my life, I've had an uneasiness about hospitalization. Because I changed a lot of hospitals, I witnessed many different applications … Standards of care seem clear, but on paper, not in practice. Because of this difference, being hospitalized always makes me nervous’. (N2). A few of the participants expressed their need for an empathetic approach and their feelings of loneliness as follows: ‘Because I need a cure, as a patient and a nurse, I expect empathy from my colleagues and nurse friends, I need more love and, smiling face’. (N5) ‘…There is a feeling of loneliness first of all, you get into the psychology of the patient in the hospital, you expect attention from everyone’. (N6). One of the participants stated that this experience added a strange feeling: ‘You become a service recipient in a place where you provide service. It is a patient's room, patient's bed, whether you like it or not. Thoughts like am I sick or am I going to sleep here?’ (N3). One participant expressed their trust in their caregivers as follows: ‘It's nice to have someone come and take care of you. I also felt such incredible trust and surrendered myself to them without any hesitation’. (N8). Another participant expressed their sadness as follows: ‘During my hospitalization, the fact that the hospital was bustling and seeing the health problems of the people around me affected me psychologically, and I was sad’. (N4). In the process of receiving inpatient care from nurses, it has been determined that nurses have the experience of taking advantage of being looked after by a colleague, taking it usually, evaluating nursing care practices and having difficulties. One participant described the advantage of being looked after by a colleague: ‘When you are a colleague, they show you all kinds of attention. That's why I never had any problems in the hospital. They gave me the necessary explanation whenever I asked a question, such as why it was being done this way or what I would do for the rest of the treatment. So, I was lucky; I took advantage of this situation’. (N4). The expression of one of the participants who took this process normally is as follows: ‘The hospital is like my second home. Since I am familiar with the hospital environment, I can spend time there very relaxed, comfortably, and without being alienated. Being hospitalized as a patient did not cause much trouble for me’. (N8). One of the participants expressed their views on nursing care practices as follows: ‘The dressing of the intravenous catheter was dirty; I was afraid of getting infected. Despite saying this, I had to do my dressing when there was no change. I know they work hard, but it's a situation that needs attention; I am just saying as a patient’. (N7). Another participant expressed the difficulty they experienced as follows: ‘The simplest is if you can't even go to the toilet and pull your underwear off, wear socks on your feet, tie your hair up and lie down, it's a challenging process’. (N1). Good nursing care is described as individual‐centred care, communication, trust, allocating sufficient time for care and treatment, respecting privacy, updating knowledge and being open to learning. A participant's statement about ‘individual‐centred care’ is as follows: ‘…understanding, seeing, knowing, being able to look after the patient completely… After that, you will listen to the patient and observe whether they respond to the treatment. If not, you will let their physician know that. As a team, you may need to do some other planning. I need to observe patients; I think it is important to observe and behave according to the person’. (N9). Examples of participant statements about ‘communication’ are as follows: ‘After observing the patient thoroughly, both the family and the patient should be informed about what to do and decide on the care’. (N1). ‘I have always believed that as long as I use communication techniques well, I can improve the quality of patient care. Besides, I have used the theoretical knowledge I know best; when these two come together, good nursing care emerges, and the quality of care increases’. (N2). One of the participants expressed ‘trust’ as follows: ‘I think good care starts with binary relations, through the patient trusting you and your trust in the patient. If there is no trust, if the patient does not accept me, an act I want them to do can turn into torture for the patient’. (N1). One of the participants expressed ‘allocating sufficient time for care and treatment’ as follows: ‘It's important to get things done on time. We may have renal transplantation patients, and they want their medication to be in their room on time; it is important to communicate well with this patient’. (N5). One participant expressed ‘respect for privacy’: ‘While we draw the curtains in a four‐person room and do the perineum care or body cleaning of the patient, the loud voices of other patients and their relatives make care difficult. By taking patients with perineal care and similar needs to rooms with fewer people, we ensure that patients are less offended’. (N1). A few definitions nurses make about good nursing care are directly quoted: ‘After giving information, showing a good approach, seeing the smiling face and sincerity, I think such care is flawless care’. (N1). ‘Good care is, first, a smiling face, a good way of addressing and then dealing with the patient in care. It covers everything from top to bottom, medically, physically, and spiritually. Everything is included within the scope of care’. (N6). The changes experienced by nurses receiving inpatient care in their perception of nursing care are as follows: becoming more sensitive, understanding the importance of informing, recognising the importance of nursing care, developing empathy skills, understanding the importance of privacy and considering care as a part of life. One participant expressed becoming more sensitive as follows: ‘Before I was hospitalized as a patient, I could sometimes give harsh answers to the patients. After my hospitalization, I realized how important it was for the nurses to be smiley. Because the energy of the nurse who came to me had an incredible effect on me, after experiencing this one‐on‐one as a patient, I try to be more careful about it. Having lived it myself, I realized that this is incredibly important’. (N8). One of the participants stated that she understood the importance of informing: ‘I have never worked in surgical clinics. The nurse tells me how vomiting will affect me and the need to control the gag reflex, so I think it is important to inform. I must also explain angiography, mobilization, and eating habits to the patients here. There are many patients; sometimes you can rule them out, but you understand that you should not rule them out when you experience how it feels to be a patient, and you give more importance to informing’. (N9). One of the participants expressed an awareness of the importance of nursing care as follows: ‘… after I got sick, my approach changed a little bit. Even establishing vascular access, which we consider the simplest, hurt me greatly. It is complicated not to be able to breathe after the surgery. When we do this profession, we see it as much simpler. I understood very well that observing and experiencing are very separate phenomena’. (N5). One of the participants expressed how her empathy ability developed as follows: ‘There is such a thing as pain, and the patient is telling the truth. The patient who cannot walk and the dizzy patient are normal. In the first postoperative mobilization, the patients may feel dizzy and have a hypotensive attack. I didn't think anyone was pretending, but I thought the patient might be delicate; I experienced it, too. Now, it is easier to empathize with the patients. Therefore, my perception has changed’. (N3). The participant's statement, who stated that they understood the importance of privacy, is as follows: Privacy has become even more important to me. After experiencing this, you can perceive how important privacy is for a patient. (N6). A participant stated that they consider care a part of life: ‘You switch from a care provider to a care receiver; I think this is a rule of nature. Since nothing is guaranteed, we provide care for someone today and look for someone to provide us care tomorrow’. (N1). A few nurses who received care as inpatients stated that there was no change in their perception of care in this process.

The findings of this research were discussed under the themes of care‐receiving experiences, components of good nursing care and the change in perception of care. In this study, participants stated that receiving care from another person during the hospitalisation period causes negative emotions such as feeling dependent on another person, fear and anxiety, sadness, the anxiety of being a burden, and loneliness. This aligns with Prenkert et al. ( 2017 ), who found that healthcare professionals similarly experienced negative emotions, including complete dependence, neglect and perceptions of being a demanding patient, which led to feelings of insecurity and vulnerability. In our findings, participants stated that while receiving care as an inpatient, they formed a positive emotion and a sense of trust towards the clinical environment and healthcare personnel. Similar to our findings, Edward, Giandinoto, and McFarland ( 2017 ) reported that nurses with cancer who received treatment at the workplace felt comfortable because they knew the care provider team. Consistent with the literature, participants who shared their experiences while receiving care in our study stated that they were familiar with the hospital environment, felt comfortable and were typically used to being in the hospital (Edward, Giandinoto, and McFarland  2017 ; Zeitz  1999 ). In our study, participants who evaluated the nursing care they received stated that some nursing care practices were incomplete. Like our study, Kimchi‐Woods, Pugh, and Wiley ( 2024 ) reported that nurses encountered deficiencies affecting the quality of care, such as lack of communication and poor sterile technique, during the time they received care. In our findings, the participants emphasised the importance of implementing nursing care practices more effectively by making use of professional knowledge, competence, experience and job positions as both experienced and observers. In a study, it was stated that healthcare professionals who enter the hospital as patients have more than one role; they serve as both a patient and an observer who evaluates how other healthcare professionals do their job (Tuffrey‐Wijne and Williams  2015 ). In our study, participants noted that receiving care from a colleague offered benefits such as easier access to information and more personable, friendly care. It is thought that the fact that most of the participants receive care within their institutions makes them feel advantageous. Similar to our study, it was found that nurses who disclosed their professional background to the healthcare team rated the care they received as satisfactory (Kimchi‐Woods, Pugh, and Wiley  2024 ). According to the participants' statements, good nursing care consists of many components. In our findings, the participants emphasised the necessity of individual‐centred care to provide good care. In line with our findings, a study has suggested that nurses should view each patient as an individual, provide personalised nursing care and promote individuality in their approach to enhance patient satisfaction with nursing care (Gurdogan, Findik, and Arslan  2015 ). In Zeitz's ( 1999 ) study, it was observed that recognising and respecting the professional background of the nurses receiving care and treating them as individuals helps to bridge the gap between nurses receiving and giving care, thus improving professional relationships. In our study, the participants stated that effective communication is crucial for delivering good care. The participants emphasised that a calm tone of voice, soft words and a smiling face play a crucial role in effective communication and contribute to the care. Research in the literature suggests that compassionate touch and friendly care contribute to patient satisfaction (Chhugani and James  2017 ), and patients describe good nurses as smiling, gentle and compassionate (Izumi et al.  2006 ). Participants have stated that listening and giving information, which are the elements of effective communication, are essential in realising good nursing care. It has been noted in a study that nurses should communicate by listening and explaining to give appropriate answers to the needs of patients (Vioulac et al.  2016 ). Our study indicated that if the patient does not trust, the mutual relationship and care will be disrupted, and reasonable care can be realised when trust is established. In the study conducted by Charalambous et al. ( 2016 ) with 590 cancer patients, it was revealed that perceived nursing care quality is directly related to trust in nurses. In our findings, the participants have stated that sufficient time should be allocated for good care and treatment, and the time allotted for the patient's perception of reasonable care is essential. A study on clinical competencies has shown that it is essential to establish a connection with patients that makes them feel that enough time is being dedicated to them, instilling confidence and ensuring continuity in communication (Nieminen, Mannevaara, and Fagerström  2011 ). It has been stated in this study that providing care while respecting the patient's privacy is meaningful for the patient. A study conducted in Taiwan found that patients nurses care for feel honoured by respecting privacy (Lin, Tsai, and Chen  2011 ). Research conducted across various countries and at different time periods consistently defines good nursing care in similar terms. This consistency underscores the universal nature of the nursing profession, which adheres to fundamental principles that transcend cultural and temporal differences. Consequently, the fundamental aspects of quality nursing care are universally acknowledged and esteemed. The concept of being sensitive to the individuals they care for has been noted extensively in research analysing nurses' perceptions of care (Ranheim  2009 ; Brunton and Beaman  2000 ). In our study, participants stated that they became more sensitive to the individuals they provided nursing care because of their own experiences as inpatients receiving care. In our study, participants who had been hospitalised stated that they recognised the importance of informing the patient. It was concluded in a study that analysed the experiences of nurses who returned to work after cancer treatment that giving enough information to the patient to gain autonomy would reveal positive behaviours in the recovery process (Edward, Giandinoto, and McFarland  2017 ). In this study, participants who personally experienced the illness and the hospital process stated that they realised the importance of nursing care. These participants' experiences gave rise to a similar result with the statement, ‘It is the care in nursing that makes nursing what it is,’ as stated in the study by Zeitz ( 1999 ). The participants in our study who received care as inpatients stated they had better empathy with the patients at the end of this process. Similar to our finding, it was emphasised in a study that nurses who returned to work after cancer treatment had more empathy skills through their experiences (Edward, Giandinoto, and McFarland  2017 ). One of the participants stated that after receiving inpatient care, she understood that privacy is crucial for a patient. Like our finding, it has been emphasised in another study that protecting the privacy of patients concerning the dignity of care is vital in clinical practice (Lin, Tsai, and Chen  2011 ). The narratives of nurses receiving inpatient care highlight the importance of patient experiences and provide insights to nurses for enhancing their care practices. The fact that some participants' perceptions of treatment did not change because of their experiences as inpatients is assumed to be due to the short time in the clinic and the high level of professional experience. This study has several limitations that should be considered when interpreting the findings. First, the study used snowball sampling, which may limit the representativeness of the sample and lead to potential biases. Second, geographical and cultural factors may have influenced the participants' experiences and perceptions of care, as the study was conducted in Türkiye. Third, variations in the training and experience levels of the nurses who participated in the study might have led to differing perceptions of the hospitalisation experience. Last, some nurses declined participation due to their reluctance to revisit negative experiences from their illness.

It is essential to reveal the views and experiences of the nurses receiving inpatient care regarding the care after the process they have been through, to understand the caregiver's expectations, and to improve the quality of the care provided. As a result, nurses receiving inpatient care reported that their experiences improved the quality of nursing care they gave by assisting in developing traits that should be present in all nurses, owing to the nature of the profession. They have also stated that they are more empathetic towards patients. Nurses' experiences will guide other nurses in presenting nursing care quality, reflect positively on the quality of care and ensure that patients are satisfied with nursing care. It is recommended that the study be repeated with a different and diverse sample.

The findings emphasise that the experience of receiving care as an inpatient result in understanding the needs of patients, giving care with greater empathy, and acting selflessly, sensitively, gently and attentively by becoming more sensitive towards the patient. Additionally, one of the key findings of the study is that in order to provide good nursing care, it is essential to view the person holistically, which involves identifying the patient's primary needs, planning their care, accordingly, making thorough observations and placing the individual at the centre of care process. The lessons learned by nurses who have experienced being a patient as well as the solutions they find to the problems they encounter vary among individuals. In this process, nurses combine their post‐experience conclusions with their professional knowledge and intuition and then transfer it to their professional lives and patient care. Such a transfer contributes to the delivery of quality care. Inexperienced nurses should be brought together with experienced nurses to improve their characteristics such as being sensitive, empathising, sympathising, showing respect and compassion, taking responsibility and valuing human beings, and thus the quality of nursing care, which is a requirement of the nursing profession, should be increased. Sharing the conclusions of experienced nurses with their colleagues enables learning, and nurses who combine this learning with their knowledge and intuition advance in providing better quality care with increased awareness. Studies examining the effects of reflective practices are recommended to investigate how to improve the integration of personal inpatient experiences into professional nursing care.

Throughout history, care has been perceived as a woman‐specific occupation, with women's protective, concerned and caring behaviours towards children, the elderly or sick individuals associated with nursing (Berman, Snyder, and Frandsen  2016 ). However, nursing has been recognised as a profession among the health disciplines since the 19th century, with the transformation of care into an occupation based on specialised knowledge and skills with a specific educational basis. According to the International Council of Nursing (ICN) definition, nursing is ‘an integral part of the health care system, encompasses the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and care of physically ill, mentally ill, and disabled people of all ages, in all health care and other community settings’ (International Council of Nursing  2022 ). Care is the central focus of nursing. Therefore, the primary function of nurses is to provide care to individuals, families and communities who need nursing care. Nursing care is an essential component of the comprehensive services provided to patients and contributes significantly to their recovery. Good nursing care leads to beneficial outcomes at the individual patient, nursing and organisational levels (Attree  2001 ). However, in the nursing literature, the importance of good nursing care for practicing nurses has not been specifically identified. In previous years, good care has been acknowledged for skillfully and safely implementing procedural care practices based on current knowledge, enhancing healing and patient satisfaction, and reducing healthcare costs through effective and efficient patient relationships (Ghahramanian et al.  2020 ). In their qualitative study, Burhans and Alligood ( 2010 ) defined good nursing care from the perspective of clinical nurses as addressing human needs through attention, empathy, respectful interactions with patients, a sense of responsibility, and providing essential and holistic support. Good care is vital for both patients and nurses, fostering a positive work environment, enhancing job satisfaction and strengthening the nurse–patient relationship (Burhans and Alligood  2010 ). The nursing profession strives to provide good care; however, nurses themselves are exposed to comparable morbidity and mortality risks as the general population. These risks are influenced by several factors, including age, gender, social group and affiliation with a specific risk group. However, they experience higher stress levels due to unfavourable working conditions such as understaffing, long shifts and exposure to various risks at workplace such as drugs and other chemical substances, injury with sharps and cutting tools, infection due to contact with blood and body secretions, musculoskeletal disorders. As essential healthcare providers, nurses are often among the first occupational groups to face dangers in natural disasters, wars and pandemics. Nurses have been at the forefront of the COVID‐19 pandemic, diligently providing holistic care even while their own health was at risk (Al Thobaity and Alshammari  2020 ). These challenging conditions can lead to health problems for nurses, affecting their ability to contribute effectively to society, and potentially shifting their role from care provider to patient (Wang et al.  2011 ; Teixeira and Mantovani  2009 ). While nurses generally feel knowledgeable, skillful and competent in dealing with any health problem (Irvine  2012 ), being diagnosed with a new disease or being a patient can lead to significant life changes and psychological challenges (Berman, Snyder, and Frandsen  2016 ). On the other hand, knowing the process and potential outcomes of the disease state can increase their anxiety about their own diagnosis and treatment (Mendes  2015 ). Therefore, it is difficult for the nurse to accept the role of being an inpatient, to receive care from another nurse, that is, to be ‘on the other side’ (Evans  2011 ). Studies reveal that healthcare professionals react differently when in the patient role. Prenkert et al. ( 2017 ) examined the perspectives of 16 participants of nurses, physicians and other healthcare professionals regarding being a patient and an inpatient. In the findings of this study, it was revealed that being exposed to the disease and being entirely dependent makes the person feel insecure and vulnerable; as the severity of the disease increases, the desire to participate in the treatment decreases, and the need for more control arises (Prenkert et al.  2017 ). Another study reported that physicians face challenges in assuming the role of patients; general practitioners (GPs) are reluctant to admit to illness and find it difficult to relinquish control, while the consulting doctor knows the patient has medical expertise and is aware that his/her consulting style and choice of management will be scrutinised closely (Jaye and Wilson  2003 ). Research on nurses' experiences as inpatients is limited. A qualitative study by Zeitz ( 1999 ) on the experience of nurses receiving nursing care when hospitalised with four nurses demonstrated that the quality of the nurse–patient relationship is central to the experience of being a patient. A study by Edward, Giandinoto, and McFarland ( 2017 ) with eight nurses who were diagnosed with cancer revealed that nurses who had cancer and returned to work‐life provide care to their patients with more empathy and have the potential to be an essential role model for other personnel (Edward, Giandinoto, and McFarland  2017 ). A recent scoping review of the literature regarding the experiences of nurses when they become patients highlighted seven key themes, including the challenges for nurse–patients and caregivers; role ambiguity when a nurse becomes a patient; the need for personalised care to consider the nurse's professional experience; the requirement to not make assumptions about the registered nurse's knowledge; loss of control and vulnerabilities of being a patient; the impact of the valuable small things that carers did and the impact of being a nurse–patient on their future practice (Hunt and Buckley  2024 ). This scoping review identified that there is limited research published related to nurses' experiences as patients. Additionally, as far as we know, no study has been conducted in Türkiye examining specifically nurses' experiences as patients. This study aims to explore the views and experiences of nurses as inpatients. By sharing these views and experiences, nurses can gain insight into patients' real expectations and potentially enhance their quality of care. The questions guiding this research were What are nurses' experiences with receiving inpatient care? How do nurses describe good care? What are nurses' experiences with receiving inpatient care? How do nurses describe good care?

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.