Unbearable suffering while working as a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative descriptive study

Chloé Littzen-Brown; Hanne Dolan; Angie Norton; Claire Bethel; Jennifer May; Jessica Rainbow

doi:10.1016/j.ijnsa.2023.100127

Unbearable suffering while working as a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative descriptive study

Int J Nurs Stud Adv. 2023 Dec:5:100127. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnsa.2023.100127. Epub 2023 Apr 12.

Authors

Chloé Littzen-Brown¹, Hanne Dolan², Angie Norton³, Claire Bethel⁴, Jennifer May⁵, Jessica Rainbow³

Affiliations

¹ The University of Portland, School of Nursing and Health Innovations, Portland, Oregon, United States of America.
² Arizona State University, Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America.
³ The University of Arizona, College of Nursing, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America.
⁴ University of Pittsburgh Medical - Community Osteopathic Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
⁵ Duke University, School of Nursing, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in negative consequences for nurse well-being, patient care delivery and outcomes, and organizational outcomes.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of nurses working during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States.

Design: This study used a qualitative descriptive design.

Settings: The setting for this study was a national sample of nurses working during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States over a period of 18 months.

Participants: Convenience and snowball sampling were used to recruit 81 nurses via social media and both national and state listservs.

Methods: Using a single question prompt, voicemail and emails were used for nurses to share their experiences anonymously working as a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic. Voicemails were transcribed and each transcript was analyzed using content analysis with both deductive and inductive coding.

Results: The overarching theme identified was Unbearable Suffering. Three additional themes were identified: 1) Facilitators to Nursing Practice During the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2) Barriers to Nursing Practice During the COVID-19 pandemic, with the sub-themes of Barriers Within the Work Environment, Suboptimal Care Delivery, and Negative Consequences for the Nurses; and lastly, 3) the Transitionary Nature of the Pandemic..

Conclusions: The primary finding of this study was that nurses experienced and witnessed unbearable suffering while working during the COVID-19 pandemic that was transitionary in nature. Future research should consider the long-term impacts of this unbearable suffering on nurses. Intervention research should be considered to support nurses who have worked during the COVID-19 pandemic, and mitigate the potential long-term effects.

Tweetable abstract: A study on nurses experiences during the pandemic reveals their unbearable suffering. Read here about the reasons nurses are leaving.

Keywords: Burnout; Covid-19 pandemic; Nurse well-being; Nursing workforce; Qualitative descriptive; Suffering.