LIVED EXPERIENCES OF COVID-19 NURSE SURVIVORS WORKING AT

DIFFERENT HOSPITALS IN BAGUIO CITY

Background of the study 

As the novel coronavirus disease spread rapidly throughout the world, the World Health
Organization declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease, later a Public Health
Emergency and  a worldwide pandemic. With this pandemic there are known as
vulnerable populations, which includes not only older people, those with disabilities,
illnesses, and comorbidities, but also healthcare workers who may contract the Covid-19
virus as frontliners in this pandemic.

Nurses make up the majority of the National Health Service workforce and are among the
first to arrive to provide care during times of crisis. As they must treat a disease that is
poorly understood and outside of their area of expertise, this  causes them a great deal of
stress, fear, and lack of confidence. 

As nurses were exposed to a variety of new and unprecedented events in response to this
health crisis, many of them has been infected. This virus affects their physical ability due
to its given sickness. Also, in mental ability due to the thought of being ill. Since nurse
survivors’ lived experiences in dealing with COVID-19 virus was the only way to
understand what they went through, researchers conducted the study utilizing a
qualitative approach. The researchers will identify the lived experiences and on how the
Covid-19 nurse survivors cope up with their work since they are the front liners in
fighting this virus. Researchers were also analyzing the changes that happened to them
and how they make an approach to make their feelings well. Their experiences will give
us a guide to improve our care to our clients and to us nurses. In line with the theory of
Neuman, we are also identifying how the Covid-19 nurse survivors will response on the
stresses and challenges they experienced having infected with the virus.

According to the literature, there is insufficient information about nurses’ experiences

surviving the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, it is imperative that research be undertaken
to determine what nurses are experiencing physically and emotionally of being infected,
know the changes in their lives during isolation, and on how they adjust when they
recovered from the Covid-19 virus. The information gathered is important to help form a
beginning framework to help nurses today and, in the future, to be prepared with this kind
of health crisis.

Theoretical Framework
In our research, we used the Neuman's System Model by Betty Neuman. This model
focuses on the client as a system which may be an individual, family, group, or
community and on the client's responses to stressors. This model was able to widen our
understanding about how nurses will respond properly to the stressors and resolve
challenges to improve their mechanism skills based on their situation. This model reflects
to our study on how nurses survive from being positive in covid 19 which describe their
experienced that required proper approach and response to make an effective intervention
in the form of knowledge, behavior, nursing care, and comfort to help themselves from
their coping mechanism. 

Significance of the Study

           This study aims to explore the experiences of nurses who survives the Covid-19
virus. 

To the participants. The findings of the study will serve as a guide to know and learn
from the experiences of the Covid-19 nurse survivors. This will also serve as a guide to
adapt and develop their strategies to become more extra careful as they are the frontliners
in combating this Covid-19 pandemic.

To the learners. The findings of the study can help them to become aware on how
Covid-19 will affect people's life.  This will serve as an awareness to know the
importance of applying Covid-19 protocols. Also, it will help them to be prepared on how
to deal with this kind of health crisis.

To the registered nurses. This study may

 
To the future researchers. The data gathered in this paper could be used as a reference
data in conducting new researchers or in testing the validity of other related findings.
This study may also serve as a basis and starting point for a more extensive study.

 Conclusions

The sudden emergence of Covid- 19 has created devastating consequences around the
world. In this study, we took a unique opportunity to explore the experiences of nurses
who had survived after  acquiring  of Covid-19 virus through a phenomenological
approach. We found that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, fear and anxious are most
encountered by our participants. Another aspect that emerged was feeling guilty about
getting sick, for the people who had closed contact to them.  Because self-coping style
and psychological growth are important for health care provider to maintain mental
health, this study provides fundamental data for further intervention and a big
contribution to nursing research and further be improved by other researchers so that it
may be a better reference and may be used by future nurses.