Experiences of Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

Background The first wave of coronavirus disease 2019 was a global event for which nurses had limited time to prepare before receiving an influx of high-acuity patients and navigating new plans of care. Objectives To understand nurses’ lived experiences during the COVID-19 outbreak and to examine their resiliency. Methods A convergent mixed methods design was applied in this study. For the quantitative portion, resiliency was measured by using the Brief Resilience Coping Scale. Colaizzi’s phenomenological method was used for qualitative analysis. Results A total of 43 nurses participated in the study. The mean score on the Brief Resilience Coping Scale was 14.4. From 21 robust narratives, Colaizzi’s qualitative method yielded 5 themes to describe the experience of being a nurse during the pandemic. Conclusions Understanding the lived experience provides a unique lens through which to view nursing during a global pandemic, and it serves as a starting point to ensure future safeguards are in place to protect nurses’ well-being.