Working Status, Adequacy of Support, and Nursing Professional Pride among Frontline Nurses at a Designated COVID-19 Hospital

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate experiences such as working status, adequacy of support system from the nation and local government, and nursing professional pride of nurses working at a Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) designated hospital during the early COVID-19 pandemic in Daegu Metropolitan City, South Korea. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study. Participants were 157 nurses who cared for 851 patients with coronavirus infectious disease during the initial pandemic from February 18 to May 18, 2020. Work-related characteristics, national/local government/institutional support provided for risky nursing care, and nursing professional pride (Korean-Nursing Professional Pride) were surveyed from January 15 to February 15, 2020. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics. Results: Nurses worked 21 to 22 days with 7 to 8 days of overtime working a month and 2.06 hours of overtime working a day due to a shortage of nursing staff. Of them, 97.5% of nurses demonstrated concern about the transmission of COVID-19. Despite the working conditions, many participants perceived national and local government support systems for challenging works as insufficient. However, the nursing professional pride was 3.44, and more than 90% of nurses perceived increased professional awareness of nurses. Conclusions: This study suggested that frontline nurses were overworked due to the explosive increase of patients and inadequately compensated, and policies should be established to improve these issues.