Caregiving experiences of Turkish intensive care unit nurses who survived in the most destructive double earthquake of the century: A qualitative study.

Background: Turkey has been exposed to many devastating earthquakes in recent years. Considering that nurses are on the front lines of responding to disasters, they need to be prepared at all times. In the literature review, it was seen that despite the roles of intensive care nurses in disasters, their experiences in caring for earthquake victims have not been adequately researched.

Aim: This study aims to investigate the experiences of intensive care nurses during the double earthquake in Turkey in 2023.

Study design: This descriptive qualitative research was conducted with 11 intensive care nurses working in the double earthquake in Turkey in 2023. Snowball sampling was used to select participants. Data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Interviews were continued until data saturation was reached.

Results: As part of the analysis of the interviews, the nurses' experiences were grouped under four main themes covering 10 sub-themes-'Continuing care despite difficulties', 'Staying in a dilemma', 'Two faces of the earthquake' and 'The need for perfect planning kneaded with experience.'

Conclusion: The main source of the difficulties and dilemmas experienced is the obligation of nurses who experienced the earthquake to continue their profession. Still, continuity of care was maintained and nurses drew positive conclusions from the negativity.

Relevance to clinical practice: Considering the positive and negative effects of the earthquake, intensive care nurses should be both professionally and psychologically empowered, organizational planning should be conducted as soon as possible and their functionality should be tested through drills.