Exploring Nurses’ Perceptions of their Workload at Coronavirus Disease 2019 Isolation Ward in Jakarta, Indonesia: A Qualitative Study

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a problem faced by all countries in the world. Health workers, who are on the frontline in dealing with patient, are at high risk of being infected. The large number of patients affected by COVID-19 potentialis causing an increasing burden on nurses caring for their patients. There is little research from qualitative studies on the workload of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients. AIM: The purpose of this study is to explore the workload of nurses, including perceptions and influencing factors. METHODS: Nine nurses taking care of patients with COVID-19 were selected using purposive sampling at a hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted online. Data saturation were achieved after interviewing nine nurses. This study adopts constant comparison analysis as developed by Glasser and Strauss. RESULTS: The study resulted in eight categories and four main themes, including distribution of workload, workload increase factors, challenges, and expectations of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that leaders and managers need to make policies that are fair to nurses so that they do not burden nurses with non-nursing care. They must also provide sufficient training for new nurses who will be assigned to the COVID-19 isolation ward.