Mental images of nurses regarding COVID-19: A metaphor study.

Aim: The purpose of this study is to understand the thoughts and perceptions of nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 diagnosis about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The nursing profession, with the basic duty of caring for people, is among the professional groups most affected by COVID-19. The high rate of transmission of COVID-19, inadequate numbers of nurses for the increasing case numbers, inadequate personal protective equipment and increases in numbers of deaths negatively affected nurses, as they affected all health professionals.

Methods: This research is phenomenological research. A parallel mixed design including quantitative and qualitative research methods was used in the research. A sociodemographic data form and metaphor perception related to the COVID-19 pandemic form were used for data collection. Responses of nurses to the open-ended metaphor questions were evaluated with descriptive analysis and content analysis using the document investigation method.

Results: The research was completed with 227 nurses. Most of the nurses were employed in COVID-19 wards (68.3%), were not diagnosed with COVID-19 (65.2%) and had not lost any relatives to COVID-19 (59.0%). It was determined that the answers given by the nurses comprised 151 metaphors collected in eight categories in total.

Conclusion: The results show that the metaphors mentioned by nurses involve hopelessness.

Implications For Nursing Management: This study reflects the ideas of nurses who are working with all their might during the COVID-19 pandemic and reveals the psychological status of the nurses.