Nurses' Experience towards Caring for Children with Proven Covid-19 Infection at Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Amr, Mostafa; Hashad, Reham El - Saeed; Ahmed, Gehan El Nabawy; Abo Samra, Omayma Mustafa

doi:10.21608/tsnj.2021.210728

Nurses' Experience towards Caring for Children with Proven Covid-19 Infection at Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Professor of Psychiatric Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University. Egypt

² Lecturer of Pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Mansoura University ,Egypt

³ Assistant professor of Pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Mansoura University ,Egypt

10.21608/tsnj.2021.210728

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has been the talk of the world for several months in 2020, reflecting a new public health challenge that poses a significant threat to nurses' lives and well-being, resulting in a significant impact on their principles or experiences in the treatment of pediatric patients with covid-19. This study aimed to investigate nurses' experience towards caring for children with proven covid-19 infection at pediatric intensive care unit. Subject and Method: Design: A qualitative descriptive phenomenological study was conducted at Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICU) affiliated to Mansoura University Children's Hospital (MUCH). Subject: It included 14 nurses who were caring for children who had covid-19 infection, either suspected or confirmed. Tools: Semi-structured interviews were conducted using the WhatsApp mobile messaging service to obtain data. The data was analyzed using Colaizzi's approach. Lincoln and Guba's criteria were used to determine the study's rigor. Results: Mental state, emotional state, and caring context were identified as three primary themes and six subthemes. Conclusion: Nurses working at pediatric intensive care unit caring for children with suspected or confirmed covid-19 infection reported a state of mental and emotional anguish, as well as working under insufficient professional circumstances.Recommendation: Increasing hospitals' attention on giving psychological support to nurses and training in coping skills, since COVID-19 outbreak has put enormous strain on hospitals, with frontline nurses being the most severely affected