Beyond heroism: a qualitative study on the lived experiences of nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 in Pakistan

BACKGROUND: Healthcare professionals around the globe suffered severely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study aims to explore the lived experiences of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients in Pakistan. METHODS: The study is a qualitative exploration of the lived experiences caring for patients with COVID-19 in Pakistan. This research was conducted in two government hospitals there. Face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted amongst 30 nurses who had been selected using purposive sampling technique. Thematic analysis was applied to extract the themes from respondents’ answers. RESULTS: By using thematic analysis, social response, impacts on physical and mental health, and experience of handling COVID-19 patients were extracted as major themes. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this research are of immense importance in showing the impact of COVID-19 on mental and physical health, along with the social and personal consequences for nurses providing care to COVID-19 patients.