Nurses’ perspectives on fundamental care for patients admitted with Covid-19: an interpretive description

Background: Patients with Covid-19 need specialized care focusing on the respiratory system; however, they also need fundamental nursing care. Therefore, we aimed to explore how nurses’ experienced caring regarding Fundamentals of Care (FoC) for patients admitted with Covid-19.
Methods: The study is qualitative and inspired by Interpretive Description. Data was collected through one focus group and fifteen individual interviews with pulmonary nurses.
Results: We identified three themes with seven subthemes. The three themes are: “To shine a light and lead the way through chaos“, “Feeling professionally paralyzed” and “Pioneering new pathways when building relationships”.
Conclusions: To reduce respiratory risks in Covid-19 fundamental care, a person-centered fundamental care approach incorporating essential oxygen-saving adjustments to the practical process was vital. Nurse leaders, being frontline role models, can potentially enhance FoC through work environment and thereby reduce patient risks.