MCur / Department of Advanced Nursing Science / Background: Doctors and nurses working in ICU are always confronted with ethical dilemmas when caring for critically ill patients no matter where they practice. The ethical dilemmas experienced by ICU nurses and doctors include amongst other: freedom of choice, truth telling, distribution of resources and confidentiality. Purpose: The study sought to explore the ethical dilemmas experienced by healthcare professionals working in ICU, Vhembe district in Limpopo province. Setting: The setting of the study was Tshilidzini hospital, Vhembe district in Limpopo Province Methodology: A qualitative, explorative, descriptive design was used. The population was nurses and doctors working in ICU, Tshilidzini hospital, Vhembe district in Limpopo province. A purposive sampling was used to select the study sample, and the study hospital. Data was collected by means of Semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Data was analyzed using Tesch`s method. Ethical considerations were adhered to. Findings: Participants expressed ethical dilemmas related to lack of resources, unsuitable infrastructure, hospital policies and patient`s decision making. Recommendations: The study recommends better policies by government and critical care societies to help guide resource allocation for ICU services. The number of ICU beds must be allocated according to the population it serves, in-service trainings to be conducted on regular bases in order to equip ICU health care professionals with knowledge of ethics and skills of decision-making, an active ethics committee to be elected to assist ICU practitioners when they encounter ethically challenging situation. / NRF

Bakgrund: I december år 2019 upptäcktes ett nytt coronavirus vid namn SARS-CoV-2 som orsakade sjukdomen covid-19. Viruset spred sig globalt och hade enligt världshälsoorganisationen smittat mer än 440 miljoner människor i mars 2022. Tidigare forskning belyser att patienter som vårdats på olika avdelningar upplevde en ensamhet på grund av isolering. Pandemin medförde en stor belastning för sjukvården och dess personaldär sjuksköterskorna således haft ett stort ansvar för patienternas omvårdnad under den pågående pandemin. Det är därmed viktigt att beskriva sjuksköterskornas erfarenheter för att få en förståelse över sjuksköterskans arbete under en pandemi. Syfte: Att beskriva sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att vårda patienter med covid-19 på vårdavdelningar.Metod: En allmän litteraturöversikt som innefattar 15 artiklar med både kvalitativ och mixed method ansats. Resultat: I analysen av artiklarna identifierades kategorierna ”Att anpassa sig till en ny arbetssituation”, “att uppleva rädsla för smittan”, “utmaningar med att arbeta i skyddsutrustning” och “professionell- och personlig tillväxt". Slutsats:Anpassningen till den nya arbetssituationen var en stor process som skapade oro medanexponeringen för viruset orsakade en känsla av rädsla. Utmaningar gällande skyddsutrustningen gjorde även att sjuksköterskornas välmående påverkades negativt. Trots detta erfor sjuksköterskor en professionell- och personlig tillväxt av att ha kunnat hantera överväldigande situationer. / Background: In december 2019 a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2 was discovered. The virus caused a disease called covid-19 and spread globally. According to the World Health Organization more than 440 million people had been infected in march 2022. Previous research highlights that patients treated for covid-19 experienced loneliness due to isolation. The pandemic entailed a great burden for the healthcare system and its staff where the nurses had a great responsibility for the patients care during the ongoing pandemic. It is therefore important to describe the nurses’ experiences to gain an understanding of the nurse’s work during a pandemic. Aim: To describe nurses experiences of caring for patients with covid-19 in hospital wards. Method: A general literature review that includes 15 articles with both qualitative and mixed method approach. Findings: The analysis of the articles identified the categories; "adapting to a new work situation", " experiencing fear of infection”, “challenges in working with protective equipment” and “professional- and personal growth”. Conclusion: Adapting to a new work situation was a major process that caused concern while the exposure to the virus caused a feeling of fear. Challenges regarding protective equipment also had a negative impact on the nurse’s well-being. Despite this the nurses experienced professional- and personal growth from being able to handle overwhelming situations.