Abstract:

The global COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted life worldwide. Nurses are a group of professionals who deal directly with COVID-19 patients and therefore directly exposed to the virus. The pandemic process has affected nurses physically and psychologically. The aim of this study is to determine the emotions, thoughts and experiences of nurses working in the intensive care unit regarding the COVID-19 pandemic process. In the study, descriptive phenomenology, which is a qualitative research method, was used. The study group consisted of 15 intensive care nurses who gave care to COVID-19 patients and were determined by the snowball sampling method. Research data were collected through in-depth individual interviews using a semi-structured form containing 8 open-ended questions. The data were evaluated by content analysis. The average age of the nurses participating in the study is 29.1. Working hours in intensive care range from 4 months to 12 years. In the study, the statements of the participants were "emotions and thoughts about the pandemic process" "effects of the pandemic and difficulties experienced" "fight against COVID-19; The themes of “being an intensive care nurse” and “learned from the pandemic” were determined. The results of this research revealed that intensive care nurses who care for COVID-19 patients were affected physically, psychologically and socially. In this direction, interventions that will help increase the psychological and physiological well-being of nurses are recommended.

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