The lived experiences of frontline nurses during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic in Qatar: A qualitative study

Abstract

A total of 30 nurses were interviewed; (76.7%) were deployed for >6 months. Three major themes were drawn from the analysis: (a) Challenges of working in a COVID-19 facility (subthemes: working in a new context and new working environment, worn out by the workload, the struggle of wearing protective gear, fear of COVID-19, witnessing suffering); (b) Surviving COVID-19 (subthemes: keeping it safe with extra measures, change in eating habits, teamwork and camaraderie, social support); and (c) Resilience of Nurses (subthemes: a true calling, a sense of purpose).