Intensive Care Nurses’ Fears about Returning to Work after Recovering from COVID-19: A Qualitative Study

BACKGROUND: Experiencing coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) disease is a difficult and exhaustive process. Intensive care unit (ICU) nurses return to the ICU after recovering from COVID-19. AIM: This study was planned to determine the care difficulties and ethical problems faced by ICU nurses returning to work after being diagnosed with COVID-19. METHOD: In-depth interview technique was used in this qualitative study. This study was conducted between January 28 and March 3 2021 with 20 nurses diagnosed with COVID-19, working in an ICU. Data were collected using face-to-face interviews with semi-structured questions. RESULTS: Average age of the participating nurses was 27 ± 5.8; 14 of them were not planning to leave the profession; 13 felt confused about the pandemic process and all experienced some ethical problems related to the care process. CONCLUSION: Long work hours during the pandemic negatively affect ICU nurses’ psychology. After experiencing the disease, the ethical sensitivity of the nurses in this group providing care to patients increased. Determining the difficulties and ethical problems experienced by ICU nurses after recovering from COVID-19 can be a guide in increasing ethical sensitivity. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Işik MT, Özdemir RC. Intensive Care Nurses’ Fears about Returning to Work after Recovering from COVID-19: A Qualitative Study. Indian J Crit Care Med 2023;27(4):283–288.