Experiences of Healthcare Workers Working in COVID-19 Isolation Wards in Lesotho: A Qualitative Study

Bokang Mahlelehlele; Maselobe Lebona; Moses Murandu

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14

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Experiences of Healthcare Workers Working in COVID-19 Isolation Wards in Lesotho: A Qualitative Study

Bokang Mahlelehlele, Maselobe Lebona, Moses Murandu

Published in American Journal of Nursing Science (Volume 12, Issue 1)

Received: 30 December 2022 Accepted: 20 January 2023 Published: 24 February 2023

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Abstract

Background: Health and wellbeing of Healthcare workers impacts the health of the nation. COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light a number of challenges faced by Healthcare workers all over the world, affecting their psychosocial, financial, spiritual and physical well-being. There has been an alarming number of healthcare workers being affected by COVID-19 across the globe, some even succumbed to death as a result of COVID-19. Some identified reasons for this tragedy have been lack of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), insufficient knowledge about the disease, shortage of healthcare workers and the compromised welfare of the Healthcare workers. Few studies within Lesotho focused on the perceptions of healthcare workers on COVID-19 and there was none conducted on the experiences of healthcare workers working in the COVID-19 isolation wards therefore, the aim of this study is describe the experiences of Healthcare workers working in COVID-19 isolation wards in Lesotho. Material and Methods: A descriptive phenomenological research design was utilized and data was collected using unstructured interviews which were audio-recorded. The interviews were conducted amongst the nine Healthcare workers who were working in the COVID-19 isolation ward and they composed on one office assistant, two medical doctors and six registered nurses. Analysis: Colaizzi’s seven-step method of qualitative data analysis was followed in this study. Results: Findings revealed increased workload, significant amount of negative emotions in the early stages of the pandemic, positive emotions at the later stage as well as stigma and discrimination. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic placed a huge burden on the health care system. Health care workers, being in the front line, were significantly affected; they had to endure continued psychological distress because of the unique type of care required.

Published in	American Journal of Nursing Science (Volume 12, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14
Page(s)	21-27
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

COVID-19, COVID-19 Isolation Wards, Experiences, Healthcare Workers, Qualitative Study

References

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APA Style

Bokang Mahlelehlele, Maselobe Lebona, Moses Murandu. (2023). Experiences of Healthcare Workers Working in COVID-19 Isolation Wards in Lesotho: A Qualitative Study. American Journal of Nursing Science, 12(1), 21-27. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14

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ACS Style

Bokang Mahlelehlele; Maselobe Lebona; Moses Murandu. Experiences of Healthcare Workers Working in COVID-19 Isolation Wards in Lesotho: A Qualitative Study. Am. J. Nurs. Sci. 2023, 12(1), 21-27. doi: 10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14

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AMA Style

Bokang Mahlelehlele, Maselobe Lebona, Moses Murandu. Experiences of Healthcare Workers Working in COVID-19 Isolation Wards in Lesotho: A Qualitative Study. Am J Nurs Sci. 2023;12(1):21-27. doi: 10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14

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@article{10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14,
  author = {Bokang Mahlelehlele and Maselobe Lebona and Moses Murandu},
  title = {Experiences of Healthcare Workers Working in COVID-19 Isolation Wards in Lesotho: A Qualitative Study},
  journal = {American Journal of Nursing Science},
  volume = {12},
  number = {1},
  pages = {21-27},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajns.20231201.14},
  abstract = {Background: Health and wellbeing of Healthcare workers impacts the health of the nation. COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light a number of challenges faced by Healthcare workers all over the world, affecting their psychosocial, financial, spiritual and physical well-being. There has been an alarming number of healthcare workers being affected by COVID-19 across the globe, some even succumbed to death as a result of COVID-19. Some identified reasons for this tragedy have been lack of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), insufficient knowledge about the disease, shortage of healthcare workers and the compromised welfare of the Healthcare workers. Few studies within Lesotho focused on the perceptions of healthcare workers on COVID-19 and there was none conducted on the experiences of healthcare workers working in the COVID-19 isolation wards therefore, the aim of this study is describe the experiences of Healthcare workers working in COVID-19 isolation wards in Lesotho. Material and Methods: A descriptive phenomenological research design was utilized and data was collected using unstructured interviews which were audio-recorded. The interviews were conducted amongst the nine Healthcare workers who were working in the COVID-19 isolation ward and they composed on one office assistant, two medical doctors and six registered nurses. Analysis: Colaizzi’s seven-step method of qualitative data analysis was followed in this study. Results: Findings revealed increased workload, significant amount of negative emotions in the early stages of the pandemic, positive emotions at the later stage as well as stigma and discrimination. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic placed a huge burden on the health care system. Health care workers, being in the front line, were significantly affected; they had to endure continued psychological distress because of the unique type of care required.},
 year = {2023}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Experiences of Healthcare Workers Working in COVID-19 Isolation Wards in Lesotho: A Qualitative Study
AU  - Bokang Mahlelehlele
AU  - Maselobe Lebona
AU  - Moses Murandu
Y1  - 2023/02/24
PY  - 2023
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14
T2  - American Journal of Nursing Science
JF  - American Journal of Nursing Science
JO  - American Journal of Nursing Science
SP  - 21
EP  - 27
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-5753
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14
AB  - Background: Health and wellbeing of Healthcare workers impacts the health of the nation. COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light a number of challenges faced by Healthcare workers all over the world, affecting their psychosocial, financial, spiritual and physical well-being. There has been an alarming number of healthcare workers being affected by COVID-19 across the globe, some even succumbed to death as a result of COVID-19. Some identified reasons for this tragedy have been lack of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), insufficient knowledge about the disease, shortage of healthcare workers and the compromised welfare of the Healthcare workers. Few studies within Lesotho focused on the perceptions of healthcare workers on COVID-19 and there was none conducted on the experiences of healthcare workers working in the COVID-19 isolation wards therefore, the aim of this study is describe the experiences of Healthcare workers working in COVID-19 isolation wards in Lesotho. Material and Methods: A descriptive phenomenological research design was utilized and data was collected using unstructured interviews which were audio-recorded. The interviews were conducted amongst the nine Healthcare workers who were working in the COVID-19 isolation ward and they composed on one office assistant, two medical doctors and six registered nurses. Analysis: Colaizzi’s seven-step method of qualitative data analysis was followed in this study. Results: Findings revealed increased workload, significant amount of negative emotions in the early stages of the pandemic, positive emotions at the later stage as well as stigma and discrimination. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic placed a huge burden on the health care system. Health care workers, being in the front line, were significantly affected; they had to endure continued psychological distress because of the unique type of care required.
VL  - 12
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Bokang Mahlelehlele

Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, National University of Lesotho, Maseru, Lesotho
Maselobe Lebona

Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, National University of Lesotho, Maseru, Lesotho
Moses Murandu

Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing, School of Nursing, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom

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APA Style

Bokang Mahlelehlele, Maselobe Lebona, Moses Murandu. (2023). Experiences of Healthcare Workers Working in COVID-19 Isolation Wards in Lesotho: A Qualitative Study. American Journal of Nursing Science, 12(1), 21-27. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14

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ACS Style

Bokang Mahlelehlele; Maselobe Lebona; Moses Murandu. Experiences of Healthcare Workers Working in COVID-19 Isolation Wards in Lesotho: A Qualitative Study. Am. J. Nurs. Sci. 2023, 12(1), 21-27. doi: 10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14

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AMA Style

Bokang Mahlelehlele, Maselobe Lebona, Moses Murandu. Experiences of Healthcare Workers Working in COVID-19 Isolation Wards in Lesotho: A Qualitative Study. Am J Nurs Sci. 2023;12(1):21-27. doi: 10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14

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@article{10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14,
  author = {Bokang Mahlelehlele and Maselobe Lebona and Moses Murandu},
  title = {Experiences of Healthcare Workers Working in COVID-19 Isolation Wards in Lesotho: A Qualitative Study},
  journal = {American Journal of Nursing Science},
  volume = {12},
  number = {1},
  pages = {21-27},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajns.20231201.14},
  abstract = {Background: Health and wellbeing of Healthcare workers impacts the health of the nation. COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light a number of challenges faced by Healthcare workers all over the world, affecting their psychosocial, financial, spiritual and physical well-being. There has been an alarming number of healthcare workers being affected by COVID-19 across the globe, some even succumbed to death as a result of COVID-19. Some identified reasons for this tragedy have been lack of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), insufficient knowledge about the disease, shortage of healthcare workers and the compromised welfare of the Healthcare workers. Few studies within Lesotho focused on the perceptions of healthcare workers on COVID-19 and there was none conducted on the experiences of healthcare workers working in the COVID-19 isolation wards therefore, the aim of this study is describe the experiences of Healthcare workers working in COVID-19 isolation wards in Lesotho. Material and Methods: A descriptive phenomenological research design was utilized and data was collected using unstructured interviews which were audio-recorded. The interviews were conducted amongst the nine Healthcare workers who were working in the COVID-19 isolation ward and they composed on one office assistant, two medical doctors and six registered nurses. Analysis: Colaizzi’s seven-step method of qualitative data analysis was followed in this study. Results: Findings revealed increased workload, significant amount of negative emotions in the early stages of the pandemic, positive emotions at the later stage as well as stigma and discrimination. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic placed a huge burden on the health care system. Health care workers, being in the front line, were significantly affected; they had to endure continued psychological distress because of the unique type of care required.},
 year = {2023}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Experiences of Healthcare Workers Working in COVID-19 Isolation Wards in Lesotho: A Qualitative Study
AU  - Bokang Mahlelehlele
AU  - Maselobe Lebona
AU  - Moses Murandu
Y1  - 2023/02/24
PY  - 2023
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14
T2  - American Journal of Nursing Science
JF  - American Journal of Nursing Science
JO  - American Journal of Nursing Science
SP  - 21
EP  - 27
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-5753
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajns.20231201.14
AB  - Background: Health and wellbeing of Healthcare workers impacts the health of the nation. COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light a number of challenges faced by Healthcare workers all over the world, affecting their psychosocial, financial, spiritual and physical well-being. There has been an alarming number of healthcare workers being affected by COVID-19 across the globe, some even succumbed to death as a result of COVID-19. Some identified reasons for this tragedy have been lack of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), insufficient knowledge about the disease, shortage of healthcare workers and the compromised welfare of the Healthcare workers. Few studies within Lesotho focused on the perceptions of healthcare workers on COVID-19 and there was none conducted on the experiences of healthcare workers working in the COVID-19 isolation wards therefore, the aim of this study is describe the experiences of Healthcare workers working in COVID-19 isolation wards in Lesotho. Material and Methods: A descriptive phenomenological research design was utilized and data was collected using unstructured interviews which were audio-recorded. The interviews were conducted amongst the nine Healthcare workers who were working in the COVID-19 isolation ward and they composed on one office assistant, two medical doctors and six registered nurses. Analysis: Colaizzi’s seven-step method of qualitative data analysis was followed in this study. Results: Findings revealed increased workload, significant amount of negative emotions in the early stages of the pandemic, positive emotions at the later stage as well as stigma and discrimination. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic placed a huge burden on the health care system. Health care workers, being in the front line, were significantly affected; they had to endure continued psychological distress because of the unique type of care required.
VL  - 12
IS  - 1
ER  -

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