ABSTRACT Background: The first wave of coronavirus disease 2019 was a global event for which nurses had limited time to prepare before receiving an influx of high-acuity patients and navigating new plans of care. Objectives: To understand nurses’ lived experiences during the COVID-19 outbreak and to examine their resiliency. Methods: A convergent mixed methods design was applied in this study. For the quantitative portion, resiliency was measured by using the Brief Resilience Coping Scale. Colaizzi’s phenomenological method was used for qualitative analysis. Results: A total of 43 nurses participated in the study. The mean score on the Brief Resil- ience Coping Scale was 14.4. From 21 robust narratives, Colaizzi’s qualitative method yielded 5 themes to describe the experience of being a nurse during the pandemic. Conclusions: Understanding the lived expe- rience provides a unique lens through which to view nursing during a global pandemic, and it serves as a starting point to ensure future safeguards are in place to protect nurses’ well-being. Key words: COVID-19, lived experience, mixed methods, resilience Jenna A. LoGiudice is Associate Professor and Director of the Midwifery Program, Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies, Fairfield University, 1073 North Benson Rd, Fairfield, CT 06824 (jlogiudice@fairfield.edu); and per diem Certified Nurse Midwife, Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut. Susan Bartos is Assistant Professor, Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies, Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut; and per diem Registered Nurse, Surgical ICU, Bridgeport Hospital, Bridgeport, Connecticut, which was converted to a COVID ICU during the pandemic. Supplemental materials are available online at www.aacnacconline.org. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4037/aacnacc2021816 AACN Advanced Critical Care Volume 32, Number 1, pp. 14-25 © 2021 AACN Experiences of Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Methods Study Jenna A. LoGiudice, PhD, CNM, RN, FACNM Susan Bartos, PhD, RN, CCRN N urses are at the forefront of promoting health, advocating for patients, and advancing the science of care. The World Health Organization designated the year 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. 1 Organi- zations within the World Health Assembly, such as the International Confederation of Midwives, International Council of Nurses, Nursing Now, and the United Nations Popu- lation Fund, planned to celebrate nurses worldwide, to address challenges nurses face, and to highlight nurses’ vast contribu- tions throughout 2020. The Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, however, was quickly overshadowed by the international invasion of the novel coronavi- rus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The effects of COVID-19 have been felt in, and continue to ripple through, all areas of the world. Anec- dotes continue to emerge as nurses engage in the power of storytelling to share their individual reality of COVID-19. Curating and archiving these pandemic experiences are impor- tant and necessary. This study aims to scien- tifically examine the resilience and experiences of registered nurses (RNs) practicing during the pandemic. 14 Downloaded from http://aacnjournals.org/aacnacconline/article-pdf/32/1/14/135144/0320014.pdf by guest on 14 December 2022