Support expectations of nurses working in the COVID-19 ICU

Abstract

BACKGROUND : In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed interventions to support health care workers on an individual level to mitigate the psychological stress experienced as a result of working in COVID-19 units. The onus of implementing the WHO support interventions is on the health care organization, and whether those interventions address the needs of critical care nurses is unclear. There seemed to be discord between the support provided by health care organizations as proposed by WHO and the expectations of critical care nurses. SAMPLE SIZE : Thirty (30) Registered Nurses, 1 Enrolled Nurse, and 9 Enrolled Nursing Assistants were invited to participate in the study. Twelve (12) Registered Nurses, two (2) Enrolled nurses and one (1) Enrolled nurse assistant who worked with COVID-19 ICU. METHODS : The study was conducted in a private, independent and non-profit hospital in Pretoria, Gauteng Province, South Africa. The researcher adopted an appreciative appraisal approach, using the constructivist paradigm and a qualitative descriptive explorative research design. For the literature review, various database searches were conducted and two electronic databases were utilized, namely PubMed and MEDLINE. Findings were synthesised using convergent thematic analysis. DATA ANALYSIS : Data was analysed by thematic analysis to identify themes and subthemes. Themes were extracted after reading and re-reading, analysing and interpreting the data. RESULT : The participant nurses expected organizational, managerial, financial, psychological, and peer support to mitigate the stressors experienced by working in the COVID-19 critical care units. CONCLUSION : The findings of this study should assist operational managers to pay attention to work-related stress, contributing factors and early identification of nurses who need support working in the COVID-19 critical care unit. Nursing management should design and implement policies with focused strategies to support health care workers’ psychological wellbeing, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study should contribute to a proactive approach to upscale the mental health of health care workers. Psycho-educational strategies to train nurses on ways to mitigate psychological stress in a professional level are recommended.