Table 2.
Characteristics of Included Studies.
| Citation | Country | No. of Participants | Age (years) | Clinical experience (years) | Females | Study design | Data collection and analysis | Key results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chiang et al. (2007) | Taiwan | 21 | 21 -43 | 0.5-18 | 21 (100%) | Phenomenology | Focus groups Thematic analysis | The themes identified were: self-preservation; self-mirroring; and self-transcendence. |
| Chung et al. (2005) | Hong Kong | 8 | 21-40 | 0.5-14 | 4 (50%) | Phenomenology | Face-to-face interviews Thematic analysis | The three major themes explicated were: the various emotions experienced in caring for SARS patients, the concept of uncertainty and revisiting the ‘taken for granted’ features of nursing. |
| Corley et al. (2010) | Australia | 8 | NC | NC | NR | Phenomenology | Open ended questionnaire and focus groups. | Eight common themes emerged: the wearing of personal protective equipment; infection control procedures; the fear of contracting and transmitting the disease; adequate staffing levels within the intensive care unit; new roles for staff; morale levels; education regarding extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; and the challenges of patient care |
| Holroyd and McNaught (2008) | Hong Kong | 7 | NR | 4-12 | 7 (100%) | Qualitative | Personal reflective essays – content analysis | Six themes emerged: The suddenness of SARS; |
| Impacts on professional nursing practice; Personal impacts; Community and families; Community and cultural responses; and Being prepared. | ||||||||
| Ives et al. (2009) | United Kingdom | 12 | NC | NC | NC | Qualitative | Focus groups and interviews | The major themes interact in one of four ways: (1) Impacting upon (a change in one may cause a change in the other); (2) Motivation (3) Association; (4) Solution. Eight main themes emerged under the ‘duty to work' and 'barriers to working' issues. |
| Koh et al. (2012) | Singapore | 10 | NR | 7-43 | NR | Qualitative | Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews | Three themes emerged: living with risk; the experience of SARS; and acceptance of risk. |
| Thematic analysis | ||||||||
| Lam and Hung (2013) | Hong Kong | 10 | 20 - > 40 | 1->15 | 10 (100%) | Qualitative | Interviews Content analysis | The three following categories emerged from the interview data: concerns about health, comments on the administration, and attitudes of professionalism. |
| Liu and Lehr (2009) | China | 6 | 24–41 | 1–21 | NR | Qualitative | Content analysis | Chinese nurses faced personal challenge, focused on the essence of care and experienced self-growth while caring for SARS patients. |
| Shih et al. (2007) | Taiwan | 200 | 20-50 | Mean 3.5 (SD 2.3) | 191 (96%) | Qualitative | Focus groups Thematic analysis | Six major types of stage-specific difficulties with and threats to the quality of care of SARS patients were identified. |
| Wong et al. (2012) | Hong Kong | 3 | 31-37 | 7-16 | 2 (66.6%) | Qualitative | Interviews Thematic analysis | Themes included: willingness to retain in the post; and Duty concerns during novel H1N1 flu pandemic. |
NR = Not reported; NC = Not calculated