Nurses and Stigma at the Time of COVID-19: A Phenomenological Study

Overview

Journal Healthcare (Basel)

Specialty Health Services

Date 2022 Jan 21

PMID 35052188

Authors

Silvio Simeone

Teresa Rea

Assunta Guillari

Ercole Vellone

Rosaria Alvaro

Gianluca Pucciarelli

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is putting strain on every country in the world and their health systems. Healthcare professionals struggle on the frontline and they can experience stigma, which can create difficulties in controlling epidemic diseases, influencing the mental health of healthcare professionals, caregivers, families, communities, and the provided quality of care. The aim of this study is to explore the lived experience of Italian nurses about perceived stigma during COVID-19 pandemic with the phenomenological Cohen method. The principal themes that emerged from data analysis were "stigma in the working environment" and "stigma in everyday life". Each of these themes had subthemes: "looks like gun sights", "avoiding closeness to others", "nobody wants to touch you", and "the fault of being your family members". Public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, are stressful events for individuals and communities. Stigma can be more dangerous than the disease, and a major obstacle to appropriate medical and mental health interventions. Understanding how healthcare professionals experience stigma is essential to design and implement specific educational, psychological, and organisational programmes.

Citing Articles

Primary healthcare nurses' experiences in managing chronic diseases during COVID-19 in the North West province.

Mboweni S Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med. 2024; 16(1):e1-e12.

PMID: 39501862 PMC: 11447598. DOI: 10.4102/phcfm.v16i1.4491.

Stigmatization experiences of healthcare workers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review.

Negarandeh R, Shahmari M, Zare L BMC Health Serv Res. 2024; 24(1):823.

PMID: 39020333 PMC: 11253434. DOI: 10.1186/s12913-024-11300-9.

Nurses' perception of work and life under COVID-19 pandemic conditions: a qualitative study.

Maghsoodi E, Vanaki Z, Mohammadi E Front Public Health. 2024; 11:1292664.

PMID: 38164452 PMC: 10758251. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1292664.

Emotions, Perceived Stressors, and Coping Strategies Among Nursing Staff in Saudi Arabia During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Bakhsh L, Alhazmi A, BaMohammed A, Binishaq E, Abdullah G, Bajal R Cureus. 2023; 15(11):e48284.

PMID: 38058321 PMC: 10696279. DOI: 10.7759/cureus.48284.

The design and psychometric evaluation of a COVID-19 social stigma questionnaire in nurses.

Rahmani N, Roshan F, Nabavian M, Alipour H BMC Nurs. 2023; 22(1):464.

PMID: 38057810 PMC: 10699069. DOI: 10.1186/s12912-023-01620-2.

References

Koh D, Lim M, Chia S, Ko S, Qian F, Ng V . Risk perception and impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) on work and personal lives of healthcare workers in Singapore: what can we learn?. Med Care. 2005; 43(7):676-82. DOI: 10.1097/01.mlr.0000167181.36730.cc. View

Smith J, Osborn M . Interpretative phenomenological analysis as a useful methodology for research on the lived experience of pain. Br J Pain. 2015; 9(1):41-2. PMC: 4616994. DOI: 10.1177/2049463714541642. View

Wang D, Hu B, Hu C, Zhu F, Liu X, Zhang J . Clinical Characteristics of 138 Hospitalized Patients With 2019 Novel Coronavirus-Infected Pneumonia in Wuhan, China. JAMA. 2020; 323(11):1061-1069. PMC: 7042881. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2020.1585. View

Simonsen C, Aminoff S, Vaskinn A, Barrett E, Faerden A, Ueland T . Perceived and experienced stigma in first-episode psychosis: A 1-year follow-up study. Compr Psychiatry. 2019; 95:152134. DOI: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2019.152134. View

Nyblade L, Stockton M, Giger K, Bond V, Ekstrand M, Mc Lean R . Stigma in health facilities: why it matters and how we can change it. BMC Med. 2019; 17(1):25. PMC: 6376713. DOI: 10.1186/s12916-019-1256-2. View

The Lancet Infectious Diseases . COVID-19, a pandemic or not?. Lancet Infect Dis. 2020; 20(4):383. PMC: 7118638. DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30180-8. View

Eisenberger N, Lieberman M . Why rejection hurts: a common neural alarm system for physical and social pain. Trends Cogn Sci. 2004; 8(7):294-300. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2004.05.010. View

Chen W, Cheng Y, Chung Y, Lin C . The impact of the SARS outbreak on an urban emergency department in Taiwan. Med Care. 2005; 43(2):168-72. DOI: 10.1097/00005650-200502000-00010. View

Simeone S, Pucciarelli G, Perrone M, Angelo G, Teresa R, Guillari A . The lived experiences of the parents of children admitted to a paediatric cardiac intensive care unit. Heart Lung. 2018; 47(6):631-637. DOI: 10.1016/j.hrtlng.2018.08.002. View

10.

Simonds A, Sokol D . Lives on the line? Ethics and practicalities of duty of care in pandemics and disasters. Eur Respir J. 2009; 34(2):303-9. DOI: 10.1183/09031936.00041609. View

11.

Park J, Lee E, Park N, Choi Y . Mental Health of Nurses Working at a Government-designated Hospital During a MERS-CoV Outbreak: A Cross-sectional Study. Arch Psychiatr Nurs. 2018; 32(1):2-6. PMC: 7127092. DOI: 10.1016/j.apnu.2017.09.006. View

12.

Matlock A, Gutierrez D, Wallen G, Hastings C . Providing nursing care to Ebola patients on the national stage: the National Institutes of Health experience. Nurs Outlook. 2015; 63(1):21-4. PMC: 4402233. DOI: 10.1016/j.outlook.2014.11.015. View

13.

Li Q, Guan X, Wu P, Wang X, Zhou L, Tong Y . Early Transmission Dynamics in Wuhan, China, of Novel Coronavirus-Infected Pneumonia. N Engl J Med. 2020; 382(13):1199-1207. PMC: 7121484. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2001316. View

14.

Maunder R, Hunter J, Vincent L, Bennett J, Peladeau N, Leszcz M . The immediate psychological and occupational impact of the 2003 SARS outbreak in a teaching hospital. CMAJ. 2003; 168(10):1245-51. PMC: 154178. View

15.

Lee N, Lee H . South Korean Nurses' Experiences with Patient Care at a COVID-19-Designated Hospital: Growth after the Frontline Battle against an Infectious Disease Pandemic. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020; 17(23). PMC: 7729510. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17239015. View

16.

Acter T, Uddin N, Das J, Akhter A, Choudhury T, Kim S . Evolution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: A global health emergency. Sci Total Environ. 2020; 730:138996. PMC: 7190497. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138996. View

17.

Raven J, Wurie H, Witter S . Health workers' experiences of coping with the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone's health system: a qualitative study. BMC Health Serv Res. 2018; 18(1):251. PMC: 5887191. DOI: 10.1186/s12913-018-3072-3. View

18.

Chambers L, Rueda S, Baker D, Wilson M, Deutsch R, Raeifar E . Stigma, HIV and health: a qualitative synthesis. BMC Public Health. 2015; 15:848. PMC: 4557823. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-015-2197-0. View

19.

Maunder R . The experience of the 2003 SARS outbreak as a traumatic stress among frontline healthcare workers in Toronto: lessons learned. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2004; 359(1447):1117-25. PMC: 1693388. DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2004.1483. View

20.

Rafiq M, Sadiq R . Caregiver Stress, Perceived Stigma and Mental Health in Female Family Members of Drug Addicts: Correlational Study. J Pak Med Assoc. 2019; 69(9):1300-1303. View