COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus that quickly spread worldwide, resulting in a global pandemic. Healthcare professionals coming into close contact with COVID-19 patients experience mental health issues, including stress, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and burnout. This study aimed to explore the experiences of COVID-19-designated hospital nurses in South Korea who provided care for patients based on their lived experiences. Eighteen nurses working in a COVID-19-designated hospital completed in-depth individual telephone interviews between July and September 2020, and the data were analyzed using Giorgi’s phenomenological methodology. The essential structure of the phenomenon was growth after the frontline battle against an infectious disease pandemic. Nine themes were identified: Pushed onto the Battlefield Without Any Preparation, Struggling on the Frontline, Altered Daily Life, Low Morale, Unexpectedly Long War, Ambivalence Toward Patients, Forces that Keep Me Going, Giving Meaning to My Work, and Taking Another Step in One’s Growth. The nurses who cared for patients with COVID-19 had both negative and positive experiences, including post-traumatic growth. These findings could be used as basic data for establishing hospital systems and policies to support frontline nurses coping with infectious disease control to increase their adaption and positive experiences.

김숙남, et al. J Korean Acad Nurs. 2021 Oct;51(5):617-629. https://doi.org/10.4040/jkan.21069

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to measure the influence of job stress, critical thinking disposition, and clinical decision-making ability on clinical nurses’ medication safety competence. Methods: A descriptive survey was conducted among 140 nurses with more than 6 months of work experience in 4 general hospitals in Busan metropolitan city. Data were collected from August 15 to October 30, 2021 and analyzed using the independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple regression. Results: Medication safety competence had significant correlations with job stress (r=.20, p=.021), critical thinking disposition (r=.63, p<.001), and clinical decision-making ability (r=.54, p<.001). Multiple regression analysis for medication safety competence revealed that the most powerful predictor was critical thinking disposition. Job stress and critical thinking disposition explained approximately 45% of the variance in medication safety competence. Conclusion: This study confirms the need to make systematic efforts in clinical settings to improve nurses’ medication safety competence, and seeks ways to do so. To enhance clinical nurses’ medication safety competence in the future, programs that manage job stress and improve critical thinking disposition within the nursing department in particular and the hospital in general should be developed and implemented.

Lee HJ, et al. J Korean Acad Community Health Nurs. 2020 Dec;31(Suppl):563-576. https://doi.org/10.12799/jkachn.2020.31.S.563