Background

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about significant changes for healthcare professionals, which led to a new situation and chal-lenges in patient care.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to examine the opinion and experiences of general nurses in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Material and methods

To meet this goal, qualitative research was chosen in the form of semi-structured interviews with 15 nurses across the healthcare system in the South Bohemian Region in the Czech Republic. The research was carried out from 1.6.2021–30.9.2021. Data analysis was carried out using the embedded theory.

Results

The central category was “Nurse”. Related categories were identified as a pandemic, nurse personality, nurse’s job description, the impact of the pandemic, mental hygiene, information and media, patient responses, professional demands, the functioning of health and healthcare facilities, the future and pandemics. The pandemic had a positive and negative impact on all these categories. The positive impact was connected mainly with the development of skills and the competence of nurses. The negative effect was primarily associated with stress, rapid changes in practice, doubt about knowledge and skills and fear.

Conclusions

Interviews with nurses showed that for effective management of the increased burden placed on nurses during a pandemic, it is essential in the future to pay attention to the saturation of the basic, lower and higher needs of nurses. The importance of support in work, family and social life, access to quality information and the opportunity to expand knowledge and skills was also evident.