Nurses' Experiences of Caring for COVID-19 patients : A Descriptive Literature Review

Nurses around the world faced one of the most challenging situations during COVID-19 pandemic. However, the main study was to describe the various nurses experience in handling patient suffering from COVID-19. This study aims to provide additional knowledge in managing the challenges nurses encounter in handling patients affected by novel coronavirus. The study was facilitated using descriptive literature review. Literature search approach was executed with two databases: PUBMED and CINAHL. The search was limited to scientific studies, peer reviewed, English language articles that discussed the several experiences of nurses during COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, basic inductive content analysis was executed to analyze the collected data from 16 articles chosen. The study presented five generic categories of nurse’s experience and challenges in handling patient with COVID-19 virus: psychological factors, physical aspect, emotional impact, social / relational effects and environmental challenges. These categories have sub categories withdrawn from articles chosen. Consequently, the study properly described and indicated the factors affecting nurse’s experiences. The result led to the conclusion that, Covid-19 pandemic tested the dedication, capabilities and emotions of nurses around the world. Hence, to overcome nurses’ experiences and challenges faced during pandemic, strong support system is needed. Resolving the factors and giving solutions were recommended in managing the nurses’ experiences and challenges