Protective reactions of ICU nurses providing care for patients with COVID-۱۹: a qualitative study

Background and aim: The exponential spread of COVID-۱۹ has caused a huge threat to public health worldwide. Providing care for patients with COVID-۱۹ is a stressful experience for ICU nurses, which can affect their protective reactions. The present study was conducted to explore the protective reactions of ICU nurses providing care for patients with COVID-۱۹.Materials and method: This qualitative descriptive study was conducted to discover the protective reactions of nurses providing care for patients with COVID-۱۹. A total of ۱۴ ICU nurses were selected by purposive sampling. Data were collected using individual semi-structured face-to-face interviews. All interviews were recorded, and then codes and themes were extracted using content analysis method.Results: Seventeen subcategories, six categories and two themes were extracted from the analysis of data. These themes include “Unbalanced self-protective reactions” and “Responsible self-protective reactions”. During the COVID-۱۹ epidemic and crisis, ICU nurses exhibit different self-protective reactions when providing care for patients with COVID-۱۹, which include unbalanced and responsible reactions.Conclusion: Nursing managers can mitigate these unbalanced reactions by identifying them and their roots. Identifying the protective reactions of ICU nurses in providing care for patients with COVID-۱۹ could assist in developing the necessary interventions to promote positive reactions and reduce unbalanced reactions by finding their root causes.

کلیدواژه ها:

Nurse ، Protective reactions ، COVID-۱۹ ، Qualitative study