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Methods: A qualitative descriptive study with 27 nurses was conducted using focus groups and in-depth interviews, and the data were analyzed with content analysis.
Results: Five major themes emerged: “feeling burnout with overflowing workload,” “caring for suspected or infected patients with caution,” “relying on various types or levels of personal protective equipment (PPE) and feeling uncomfortable,” “communicating with other workers constantly for new information and frequently changing guidelines,” and “vigilantly monitoring fevers for everyone and restricting unauthorized access.”
Participants reported that they experienced burnout as time went on with a heavy work volume during the outbreak. They also reported discomfort wearing PPE all day while working as well as associated safety concerns. They said they were sometimes confused and busy catching up with frequently changing guidelines. Some said that people should limit visiting hospitalized patients during the outbreak and gradually change the culture in which it is common for family and friends to make hospital visits for patients.
Conclusion: This study showed that it is important for nurse managers and administrative personnel to know that continually adding to nurses’ workloads might lead to burnout and thereby negatively affect quality of care. Further, it is important to supply the best quality PPE and ensure nurses are using different types or levels of PPE correctly to ensure their safety. Feedback should also be provided to medical companies towards a more comfortable design. Furthermore, minimizing changes to guidelines and efficiently communicating among workers could lead to less confusion during the infection outbreak. Finally, it is essential to raise awareness about infection control among healthcare workers and people in general for emergency preparedness.