Nurses’ Actions to Protect Their Families from COVID-19: A Descriptive Qualitative Study

Abstract

As health service providers, nurses are at a high risk of COVID-19 infection, as are their family members who live with them. This study aimed to explore nurses’ actions to protect their families from COVID-19 in Indonesia. This qualitative descriptive study included seventeen nurses who were chosen using the snowball sampling technique. The semi structured interviews explored nurses’ actions and behavior, and comparative analysis was performed to analyze the data. The study identified four themes: nurses modified their behavior and environments to protect their families, provided supplements and nutritious food, enhanced their families’ knowledge and awareness of COVID-19, and protected their families from social stigma. Nurses play active roles in the health of their family members. The government should support nurses in their roles so that they can remain healthy while caring for COVID-19 patients, and not transmit COVID-19 to their own families.