Abstract
The aim of this paper is to share the collective story of nursing during the COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota, USA. This study was a qualitative study using narrative inquiry and storytelling methods. Participants were nurses working during 2020–2021. Participants had a variety of ways to participate: online oral storytelling, written storytelling with digital notebooks provided by the researchers, video or digital storytelling, or a mix of these options. Nine themes were identified from stories by nurses during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic related to burnout and compassion fatigue. Nurses described challenging and traumatic experiences in the first year of the pandemic. The nurses’ stories contribute to historical data about the COVID-19 pandemic, from which we must learn in order to prepare for future health-care crises. The issues identified were not new but were existing problems exacerbated by the pandemic. Knowledge of how the pandemic affected nurses needs to be used to positively change nurses’ work and their working environment.
Recommended Citation
Neiman, Tammy; Clisbee, David; Beierwaltes, Patricia; Kuechle, Lynn; Bromelkamp, Rebecca; and Eggenberger, Sandra K.
(2023)
"Using Storytelling to Explore Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Nurses: A Qualitative Study of Nurses’ Experiences,"
Storytelling, Self, Society: Vol. 19:
Iss.
2, Article 7.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/storytelling/vol19/iss2/7