During a 6 week period beginning early March 2020, 30 patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were supported with venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). This volume increase mandated rapidly training 116 nurses with no prior ECMO experience via a 2 hour crash course. A qualitative study using semistructured, in-depth interviews was conducted to evaluate the experiences of this unique nursing cohort. Fourteen registered nurses meeting inclusion criteria of no prior ECMO experience, attendance of ECMO educational crash course, direct assignment of COVID-19 patients requiring ECMO, and willingness to consent to recorded interviews participated in the study. Two semistructured interviews were conducted, audio recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis of the interviews was completed using Colaizzi's phenomenological method. Six themes identified were anxiety and fear of patient harm, isolation and depersonalization, value of didactic education with reinforced clinical experience, professional growth, importance of team collaboration, and pride and gratitude. Subthemes were additionally extracted. Nurses faced multiple obstacles during the pandemic. ECMO added a layer of complexity, as these patients required labor-intensive, high acuity nursing care. The impact of the pandemic and its unique challenges on nursing and medical staff warrants further investigation.
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