Experiences of front-line nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 in Bangladesh: A qualitative study
PDF
XML

Keywords

COVID-19
nurses
workplace
patient care
health personnel
experience
healthcare
Bangladesh

How to Cite

Rony, M. K. K., Bala, S. D., Rahman, M. M., Dola, A. J., Kayesh, I., Islam, M. T., Tama, I. J., Shafi, E. H., & Rahman, S. (2021). Experiences of front-line nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 in Bangladesh: A qualitative study. Belitung Nursing Journal, 7(5), 380–386. https://doi.org/10.33546/bnj.1680
Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar

Link to Google Scholar

Accepted for publication: 2021-09-13
Peer reviewed: Yes

Related articles in


Search Relations - Article by Author(s)

Share this article on:

Abstract

Background: As the incidence of COVID-19 is increasing, the Bangladesh government has announced a countrywide shutdown instead of a lockdown. Consequently, front-line healthcare workers, particularly nurses, are confronting more challenging situations at work.

Objective: This study aimed to explore front-line nurses’ experiences caring for patients with COVID-19 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted among front-line nurses caring for patients with COVID-19. Twenty nurses were purposively chosen from January to March 2021 to participate in semi-structured online interviews. Interviews on audio and video were collected, analyzed, interpreted, transcribed verbatim, and verified by experts. Thematic analysis was used.

Results: Nine themes emerged and were grouped into negative and positive experiences. The themes of negative experiences include lack of necessary medical equipment, use of non-standard personal protective equipment, work overload, long working hours, poor working environment, and lack of quality of nursing care. The positive experiences include feeling self in a patient position, nurses’ coping strategy in COVID-19 patient care, and establishing emotional control.

Conclusion: The study results encourage national and international health care professionals to cope with adverse working environments. Also, the findings provide nurses with techniques for dealing with any critical situation, controlling patients’ emotions, and how empathy increases self-confidence and patient care. The research should also be used to enhance government policy, nursing council policy, ministry of health policy, and other healthcare agencies.

https://doi.org/10.33546/bnj.1680
PDF
XML

Copyright

Copyright (c) 2021 Moustaq Karim Khan Rony, Shuvashish Das Bala, Md. Moshiur Rahman, Afrin Jahan Dola, Ibne Kayesh, Md. Tawhidul Islam, Israth Jahan Tama, Emdadul Haque Shafi, Shamima Rahman

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Article Metrics

Total views 3265 [Abstract: 2013 | PDF: 1252 | XML: 0 ]

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

PlumX Metrics


References

Abuhammad, S., AlAzzam, M., & Mukattash, T. (2021). The perception of nurses towards their roles during the COVID‐19 pandemic. International Journal of Clinical Practice, 75(4), e13919. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcp.13919

Al Thobaity, A., & Alshammari, F. (2020). Nurses on the front-line against the COVID-19 pandemic: An integrative review. Dubai Medical Journal, 3(3), 87-92. https://doi.org/10.1159/000509361

Al-Zaman, M. S. (2020). Healthcare crisis in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 103(4), 1357-1359. https://dx.doi.org/10.4269%2Fajtmh.20-0826

Aljazeera. (2021). Migrant workers flee Dhaka ahead of Bangladesh COVID lockdown. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/27/migrant-workers-flee-capital-as-bangladesh-tightens-lockdown

Anwar, S., Nasrullah, M., & Hosen, M. J. (2020). COVID-19 and Bangladesh: Challenges and how to address them. Frontiers in Public Health, 8, 154. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00154

Aungsuroch, Y., Juanamasta, I. G., & Gunawan, J. (2020). Experiences of patients with coronavirus in the COVID-19 pandemic era in Indonesia. Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research, 8(3), 377-392. https://doi.org/10.15206/ajpor.2020.8.3.377

Bala, S. D., Rony, M. K. K., Sharmi, P. D., Rahman, I., Parvin, M. R., & Akther, T. (2021). How inadequacies in the nursing field deteriorate the quality of health care in a developing nation. Annals of the Romanian Society for Cell Biology, 25(6), 3467-3475.

Barello, S., & Graffigna, G. (2020). Caring for health professionals in the COVID-19 pandemic emergency: Toward an “epidemic of empathy” in healthcare. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1431. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01431

Brooks, J., McCluskey, S., Turley, E., & King, N. (2015). The utility of template analysis in qualitative psychology research. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 12(2), 202-222. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2014.955224

Dawson, A. J., Stasa, H., Roche, M. A., Homer, C. S. E., & Duffield, C. (2014). Nursing churn and turnover in Australian hospitals: Nurses perceptions and suggestions for supportive strategies. BMC Nursing, 13(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6955-13-11

Dhaka Tribune. (2020). COVID-19: Health professional shortage remains a challenge in Bangladesh. Retrieved from https://www.dhakatribune.com/health/coronavirus/2020/11/18/bangladesh-fighting-COVID-19-with-a-shortage-of-50-000-doctors-nurses-employees

Gunawan, J., Aungsuroch, Y., Marzilli, C., Fisher, M. L., & Sukarna, A. (2021). A phenomenological study of the lived experience of nurses in the battle of COVID-19. Nursing Outlook, 69(4), 652-659. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2021.01.020

Hofmeyer, A., & Taylor, R. (2021). Strategies and resources for nurse leaders to use to lead with empathy and prudence so they understand and address sources of anxiety among nurses practising in the era of COVID‐19. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 30(1-2), 298-305. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.15520

Huq, Z. K. (2021). Factors determining the 3rd wave of COVID-19 in Bangladesh. The Daily Star. Retrieved from https://www.thedailystar.net/health/news/factors-determining-the-3rd-wave-COVID-19-bangladesh-2118741

Jamuna TV. (2021). Manpower crisis [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/bdjaIPh4sC8

Lai, X., Wang, M., Qin, C., Tan, L., Ran, L., Chen, D., . . . Wang, S. (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019) infection among health care workers and implications for prevention measures in a tertiary hospital in Wuhan, China. JAMA Network Open, 3(5), e209666-e209666. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.9666

Lu, D., Wang, H., Yu, R., Yang, H., & Zhao, Y. (2020). Integrated infection control strategy to minimize nosocomial infection of coronavirus disease 2019 among ENT healthcare workers. The Journal of Hospital Infection, 104(4), 454-455. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.jhin.2020.02.018

Mamun, M. A., Sakib, N., Gozal, D., Bhuiyan, A. K. M. I., Hossain, S., Bodrud-Doza, M., . . . Abdullah, A. H. (2021). The COVID-19 pandemic and serious psychological consequences in Bangladesh: A population-based nationwide study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 279, 462-472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.10.036

Marzilli, C. (2021). A year later: Life after the Year of the Nurse. Belitung Nursing Journal, 7(2), 59-61. https://doi.org/10.33546/bnj.1509

Morawska, L., Tang, J. W., Bahnfleth, W., Bluyssen, P. M., Boerstra, A., Buonanno, G., . . . Franchimon, F. (2020). How can airborne transmission of COVID-19 indoors be minimised? Environment International, 142, 105832. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.105832

Myny, D., Van Goubergen, D., Gobert, M., Vanderwee, K., Van Hecke, A., & Defloor, T. (2011). Non‐direct patient care factors influencing nursing workload: A review of the literature. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 67(10), 2109-2129. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2011.05689.x

Phan, L. T., Maita, D., Mortiz, D. C., Weber, R., Fritzen-Pedicini, C., Bleasdale, S. C., . . . Program, C. D. C. P. E. (2019). Personal protective equipment doffing practices of healthcare workers. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, 16(8), 575-581. https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2019.1628350

Reuters. (2020). Bangladesh confirms its first three cases of coronavirus. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-bangladesh-idUSKBN20V0FS

Rony, M. K. K. (2021). Diploma in Nursing or Bachelor of Science in Nursing: Contradictory issues among nurses in Bangladesh. Belitung Nursing Journal, 7(1), 57-58. https://doi.org/10.33546/bnj.1250

Stimpfel, A. W., Sloane, D. M., & Aiken, L. H. (2012). The longer the shifts for hospital nurses, the higher the levels of burnout and patient dissatisfaction. Health Affairs, 31(11), 2501-2509. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2011.1377

Sun, N., Wei, L., Shi, S., Jiao, D., Song, R., Ma, L., . . . You, Y. (2020). A qualitative study on the psychological experience of caregivers of COVID-19 patients. American Journal of Infection Control, 48(6), 592-598. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2020.03.018

Teng, C. I., Chang, S. S., & Hsu, K. H. (2009). Emotional stability of nurses: Impact on patient safety. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 65(10), 2088-2096. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2009.05072.x

The Daily Star. (2019). Govt Hospital: Most lacking even basic equipment. Retrieved from https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/news/govt-hospital-most-lacking-even-basic-equipment-1764328

Tosepu, R., Gunawan, J., Effendy, D. S., Hn, M. R., Muchtar, F., Sakka, A., & Indriastuti, D. (2021). Experience of healthcare workers in combatting COVID-19 in Indonesia: A descriptive qualitative study. Belitung Nursing Journal, 7(1), 37-42. https://doi.org/10.33546/bnj.1251

Umansky, J., & Rantanen, E. (2016). Workload in nursing. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 60(1), 551-555. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541931213601127

Worldometer. (2021). Coronavirus cases. Retrieved from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Zhan, Y.-x., Zhao, S.-y., Yuan, J., Liu, H., Liu, Y.-f., Gui, L.-l., . . . Chen, J.-h. (2020). Prevalence and influencing factors on fatigue of first-line nurses combating with COVID-19 in China: A descriptive cross-sectional study. Current Medical Science, 40(4), 625-635. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-020-2226-9


Readers are able to give us their valuable feedbacks here. The comments will be reviewed by the editors and then published here. Important Note: The "Comments" related to the Galley Proof PDF must NOT be submitted via this form. Authors should submit their comments on their galley proofs only via system