J Korean Acad Community Health Nurs.  2022 Jun;33(2):139-152. 10.12799/jkachn.2022.33.2.139.

The COVID-19 Correspondence Work Experience of Community Health Practitioners

• Ha JH
• Lee HJ

• KMID: 2531105
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.12799/jkachn.2022.33.2.139

Abstract

Purpose
This study aims to describe and understand the meaning and nature of community health practitioners’ coping with COVID-19.
Methods
In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 community health practitioners from August to October 2021, to describe and understand the nature of their coping with COVID-19. The collected data were examined and described based on Colaizzi’s phenomenological method.
Results
16 theme clusters and five categories were derived from the community health practitioners’ experience of coping with COVID-19. The categories derived were: a war that began without notice, a variety of correspondence tasks assigned, struggling to fulfill given roles, correspondence tasks becoming more systematic, and a fight that has not yet ended.
Conclusion
Community health practitioners handled various response tasks related to COVID-19, and faithfully fulfilled their professional roles while performing the primary task of medical care. Hence, attention is required on issues related to the establishment of the national emergency healthcare system and improvement of professional competence of community health practitioners even after the COVID-19 pandemic is over. Furthermore, it is necessary to make ceaseless efforts to address those issues and, in order to do so, social interest and institutional support are needed.

Keyword

Primary health care; COVID-19; Nurses; Community health; Qualitative research