Covid-19 in Iran: A Qualitative Study of the Experiences of Health Care Workers

With the rapid spread of Covid-19 around the world, the exposure of health care workers to the disease has increased. The study aimed to investigate the personal and professional experiences of health care workers during the outbreak of coronavirus in hospitals in Tehran, Iran.

This qualitative study included health care workers in the main Covid-19 units in Shahid-Beheshti University of Medical Sciences hospitals in Tehran, Iran conducted using the content analysis method in 2021. The sample was selected by purposeful sampling, using the snowball method. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and, after extracting the items, analyzed using the MAXQDA 10 software.

After coding a total of 236 main codes were extracted and divided into 10 main categories and 30 subcategories. Four main themes were identified: "Personal experience of health care workers", "Professional experience of health care workers", "Challenges of working in the field of Covid-19" and "Strategies to deal with Covid-19".

Due to the increasing psychological pressure on health care workers, it seems that planning psychological counseling and providing welfare facilities for them can be useful in reducing their mental stress. In addition, it is recommended to hold training and maneuvering courses at times of crisis and provide the necessary equipment, as well as take action for continuous supervision and monitoring to improve the working conditions of health workers.