Being A Hemodialysis Nurse During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Phenomenological Approach

• Published in: Omega: Journal of Death and Dying Vol. 87; no. 2; pp. 665 - 683
• Main Authors: Yıldırım Keskin, Alev, Şentürk, Sibel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-06-2023; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders; Content analysis; Coping; COVID-19; Dialysis; Fatigue; Hemodialysis; Humans; Nurse led services; Nurses; Original Manuscript; Pandemics; Professionalism; Qualitative Research; Renal Dialysis; Social isolation; Social life & customs; Teams; COVID-19; phenomenological approach; nurse experience; hemodialysis nurse
• ISSN: 0030-2228; 1541-3764
• DOI: 10.1177/00302228221090755

This study aimed to research the experiences of hemodialysis nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was designed with a descriptive phenomenological approach. The study was conducted with a total of 18 hemodialysis nurses. Content analysis method was used in the analysis of the data. As a result of the content analysis, six themes were determined. These were (I) encountering COVID-19, (II) social isolation, (III) difficulty maintaining nursing care, (IV) organizational issues, (V) professionalism, and (VI) coping methods. The research revealed that hemodialysis nurses experienced difficulties in their family lives, social lives, working environment and patient treatment during the pandemic. It was concluded that hemodialysis nurses need support physically and psychologically to cope with the fear of death, anxiety, exhaustion, and fatigue that they have experienced while working selflessly and vigorously with a small number of teams.