Social network decline: experiences health care workers of quarantine

Introduction: One way to control and prevent infectious diseases such as COVID-19 is quarantine. Health care workers are among the people at risk for the disease, who may have the experience of being quarantined. Objective: This qualitative study aimed to explain health care workers’ perspectives on the period of quarantine as well as their experiences. Methods: This study was conducted following a descriptive qualitative study design. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 18 health care workers with COVID-19, who were selected through purposive sampling. The data were analyzed by a contractual qualitative content analysis based on Graneheim and Landman’s approach. After an overview of each interview, semantic units, codes, and then subcategories and categories were extracted through MAXQDA software version 10 to achieve themes. Results: The main theme obtained from this qualitative study was “support network decline” consisted of two categories - psychological concern and social exclusion- and six subcategories. Application of findings in nursing: The results obtained from this study showed that the support network is a determinant of health. In fact, the support network covers a set of relationships through which individuals can develop their identity and shape their lifestyles. Therefore, the decline of such a network will exert negative impacts on individual and social life.