Raffin Bouchal, ShelleyAlphonsus, Lisa2024-08-222024-08-222024-08-19Alphonsus, L. (2024). “It’s just worse”: the experience of emergency nurses three years into the COVID-19 pandemic (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.https://hdl.handle.net/1880/119464The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted healthcare professionals. Prior to the pandemic, emergency nurses were already susceptible to psychological distress and being at the frontline of the pandemic, they have experienced increased rates of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, moral distress, and burnout. There is limited qualitative research on emergency nurses’ experience that spans the entirety of the pandemic, particularly in the third year. Using qualitative description, the aim of this research was to understand the experience of emergency nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Semi-structured interviews with five experienced emergency nurses were conducted and analysed using Braun and Clark’s (2006) framework of reflexive thematic analysis. Four themes emerged and were described: fear and anxiety of the unknown, a ton of sadness, it’s just nice to get our side of the story out, and it’s just worse. This research allows us to see the long-term effects of the pandemic, demonstrating that emergency nurses experienced the pandemic as getting worse over time. Emergency nurses have demonstrated profound courage, compassion, resilience, strength, and determination throughout the pandemic, however, it has resulted in them experiencing a heavy toll. The pandemic has left emergency nurses heartbroken, hopeless, exhausted, and feeling helpless with nurses leaving the emergency department as well as the nursing profession. Urgent support, resources, and advocacy is needed to help mitigate the toll of the pandemic and the effect it has had on emergency nurses. Understanding their experience is the first step in this essential process.enUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.Emergency NursingPandemicCOVID-19Qualitative DescriptionThematic AnalysisBurnoutMoral DistressExperienceSadnessNursingmaster thesis