"All of this was awful:" Exploring the experience of nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 in the United States.

Background: Little research documents the experience of nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 in the United States. This article explores the experience of nurses providing direct care to COVID-19 patients to understand the working conditions and emotional impact of working in this pandemic on nurses.

Methods: Data were gathered through an online survey distributed via snowball sampling in July 2020. The survey included an open-ended question asking nurses to describe a personal experience providing care to a COVID-19 patient. Researchers analyzed 118 responses using content analysis.

Results: The experience of nurses providing care to patients with COVID-19 was summarized into six themes: (1) feeling overwhelmed with the quantity of work (33.1%), (2) patient death (30.5%), (3) helplessness (23.7%), (4) absence of patient family presence and need for additional support (22.9%), (5) personal protective equipment (PPE) concerns regarding safety and how PPE can impair the nursing role (20.3%), and (6) lack of preparedness for the pandemic (16.9%).

Conclusions: These findings suggest working directly with COVID-19 patients is a significant psychological strain on nurses. Adequate personal and institutional support for nurses is needed to prevent and treat mental distress from working under these conditions.