BACKGROUND An ED admission and hospitalization are scary experiences for anyone, and potentially more so for nurses. Yet there is scant information about nurses as patients in the nursing research literature. This likely reflects a general tendency among researchers to study the needs of patients but not those of nurses. OBJECTIVE This qualitative phenomenological study sought to explore the lived experiences of nurses who were admitted as patients to a hospital directly from an ED. METHODS A sample of nurse patients 21 years of age and older and including various genders, nursing specialties, and diagnoses were recruited using maximum variation purposive sampling. A semistructured interview guide was created, and data were collected through individual interviews conducted either face-to-face or via telephone. Data were coded manually, and thematic analysis was conducted using Dedoose software. RESULTS The analysis revealed that many participants had experienced tremendous undue stress during their hospitalization. Four themes were identified: to tell or not to tell, pulling the nurse card, taking one's care into one's own hands, and having to make medical decisions while sick. CONCLUSIONS The study findings indicate that nurses who are hospitalized have different needs than do hospitalized individuals in the lay population. The findings inform our recommendations, which health care organizations, nurse educators, and nurse leaders can use to promote smoother, more compassionate care for nurse patients. Staff nurses can use them to better prepare themselves for caring for a nurse patient-or becoming one. The study findings can also serve to guide future research.

中文翻译：

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原创研究：护士作为患者的生活经历：一项定性研究。


背景 对于任何人来说，急诊室入院和住院都是可怕的经历，对于护士来说可能更是如此。然而，护理研究文献中关于护士作为患者的信息很少。这可能反映了研究人员研究患者需求而不是护士需求的普遍趋势。目的 这项定性现象学研究旨在探讨直接从急诊室入院的护士的生活经历。方法 采用最大变异立意抽样招募 21 岁及以上的护士患者样本，包括不同性别、护理专业和诊断。创建了半结构化访谈指南，并通过面对面或电话进行的个人访谈收集数据。数据手动编码，并使用 Dedoose 软件进行主题分析。结果分析显示，许多参与者在住院期间经历了巨大的过度压力。确定了四个主题：告诉或不告诉、拔出护士卡、将自己的护理掌握在自己手中，以及在生病时必须做出医疗决定。结论 研究结果表明，住院护士与非专业人群中的住院人员有着不同的需求。这些发现为我们的建议提供了依据，医疗保健组织、护士教育者和护士领导可以利用这些建议来促进对护士患者更顺利、更富有同情心的护理。护士可以利用它们更好地为照顾护士病人或成为护士病人做好准备。研究结果还可以指导未来的研究。