Women nurses working on the front lines against COVID-19 :|a qualitative inquiry

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed healthcare workers around the globe under immense pressure. Although women nurses working at the front lines are positioned at the intersection of several particularly challenging burdens, no studies conducted so far in the literature have focused on their experiences. The current study aimed to address this gap while also introducing the perspective of intersectionality to view the dynamic relations of power involved. A qualitative method based on the Constructivist Grounded Theory was utilized to conduct in-depth, individual interviews and open-ended explorations of the lived experiences of 12 women nurses. The participants were recruited from a designated pandemic hospital in Istanbul, Turkey, and had experiences ranging from 2 to 20 months working with infected patients in Covid-wards. The analysis was presented under four headings: (1) initial shock and into the pandemic, (2) war on many fronts, (3) enduring despite adversity, and (4) acceptance, adaptation, and mastery. Anger and hurt emerged from the participants’ narratives due to feelings of being sacrificed, let down, and neglected by the public and authorities, in addition to themes of pride, endurance, and empowerment. The current study also posits that an intersectional perspective could be beneficial in viewing the power-based inequalities, strains, and corresponding coping strategies of disadvantaged and multiply oppressed groups such as women front-line nurses.