Nurses Experiences and Coping Styles About Stigma During Covid-19: A Qualitative Study
Abstract
It is of great importance to take necessary measures to reduce and prevent stigma, and plan protective psychosocial interventions for the healthcare workers, especially for the nurses who are in contact with high-risk patients. This study was conducted to solicit nurses’ views on social stigmatization in the process of combating COVID-19. A descriptive qualitative method was utilized on the nurses in a training and research hospital between June and September 2020. The sample of the study consisted of 15 nurses who worked in a designated pandemic hospital during the COVID-19 outbreak. The research data was gathered via Socio‐Demographic Information Form and Semi‐Structured Interview Form. Subsequently, content analysis was registered. This study was based on COREQ (consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research) which is known to establish explicit guidelines in reporting qualitative research. The average age of the participants was 38 (min: 24–max: 54), of which 10 were women, 10 were single, 9 had children, 10 had a graduate degree. Participants had an average of 12.9 years of work experience (min: 1- max:30) of which 7.1 years was clinical work (min: 1- max:17). Three main themes were identified for the analysis of data, namely, the experiences of stigma, coping with stigma, and psychological-social results of stigma. It was determined that nurses, who were exposed to stigmatized attitudes in their clinical and social environments, mainly had recourse to employ passive coping methods during the process which later posed psychosocial adverse effects. Evaluation of the research results in theoretical, clinical, academic, and administrative settings shows necessity. Health care professionals can make use of proactive anti-stigma programs to sustain their effective work environment.
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