Table 1.
Characteristics of included studies
| Author (year) | Country | Virus type | Sample | Study design (method of analysis) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aghaizu et al. [27] | England, Hungary, Germany & Greece | SARS-CoV | 49 healthcare workers | 6 focus groups (thematic analysis) |
| Al Knawy et al. [42] | Saudi Arabia | MERS-CoV | 28 mixed healthcare workers (9 management decision-makers and 19 healthcare workers) | Individual interviews and focus groups (process evaluation and thematic analysis) |
| Andertun et al. [36] | Sierra Leone | Ebola | 9 (8 nurses and 1 physician) | Individual narrative and focus group interviews (qualitative content analysis) |
| Bensimon et al. [40] | Canada | SARS-CoV | 67 mixed healthcare workers (25 healthcare providers - paramedics, respiratory therapists, social workers, physicians, nurses) | Semi-structured interviews (grounded theory although not explicitly stated) |
| Bergeron et al. [24] | Canada | SARS-CoV | 941 community nurses | Open-ended questionnaire (thematic analysis) |
| Broom et al. [22] | Australia | Ebola | 21 (8 consultants and 13 nurses) | Semi-structured interviews (thematic analysis) |
| Chen et al. [11] | China | COVID-19 | 13 medical staff | Interview surveys (not stated) |
| Chiang, et al. [38] | Taiwan | SARS-CoV | 21 nurses | Focus groups (thematic analysis) |
| Chung, et al. [21] | Hong Kong | SARS-CoV | 8 nurses | ‘Focused but non-structured talking technique’ (Colaizzi’a (1978) phenomenological method) |
| Erland & Dahl [28] | Sierra Leone | Ebola | 11 midwives | Semi-structured interviews (thematic cross-case analysis) |
| Fawaz & Samaha [29] | Lebanon | COVID-19 | 13 health care providers | Semi-structured interviews (thematic content analysis) |
| Gershon et al. [16] | West Africa | Ebola | 16 health care volunteers | Semi-structured interviews (thematic analysis) |
| Guimard et al. [41] | Democratic Republic of Congo | Ebola | 27 nurses | Focus groups (not stated) |
| Hewlett & Hewlett [50] | Uganda and Republic of Congo | Ebola |
Mixed healthcare workers (Uganda - 6 individual nurses and 2 focus groups of nurses & healthcare workers) (Congo - 4 individual nurses and 2 focus groups of nurses & healthcare workers) |
Open-ended and semi-structured interviews and focus groups (not stated) |
| Honey & Wang [51] | New Zealand | H1N1 | 5 ICU Nurses | Focus Group (‘Grounded Theory type approach’) |
| Im et al. [26] | South Korea | MERS-CoV | 8 nurses | Interviews (not stated) |
| Ives et al. [35] | UK | General influenza pandemic | 64 healthcare workers | Focus groups and interviews (thematic analysis although not explicitly stated) |
| Kim [30] | South Korea | MERS-CoV | 12 nurses | In-depth interviews (Colaizzi’a (1978) phenomenological method) |
| Koh et al. [19] | Singapore | SARS-CoV/H1N1 | 10 nurses | Semi-structured interviews (thematic analysis) |
| Lam & Hung [34] | Hong Kong | Swine Flu | 10 nurses | Semi-structured interviews (content analysis) |
| Lamb [31] | West Africa | Ebola | 14 mixed healthcare workers (doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and support personnel (health care assistants, biomedical scientists, PPE monitors and drivers)) | Semi-structured interviews (grounded theory) |
| Lau & Chen [52] | Hong Kong | SARS-CoV | 1 (nurse manager) | Structured reflection (not stated) |
| Lee et al. [53] | Taiwan | SARS-CoV | 26 nurses | Focus groups, semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire (not stated) |
| Liu & Liehr [33] | China | SARS-CoV | 6 nurses | Descriptive exploratory qualitative study (content analysis) |
| Liu et al. [54] | Chinese nurses working in Sierra Leone | Ebola | 10 nurses | Semi-structured interviews (Colaizzi’s seven-step method) |
| Liu et al. [55] | China | COVID-19 | 15 nurses | Semi-structured interviews (not stated) |
| Locsin et al. [56] | Uganda | Ebola | 15 nurses | Written narratives (van Manen’s (1990) hermeneutic phenomenological analysis) |
| McMahon et al. [57] | Sierra Leone | Ebola | Health Volunteers (13 focus group discussions – exact number of participants not stated) | Focus groups (adapted framework approach) |
| Mok et al. [39] | Hong Kong | SARS-CoV | 10 nurses | Interviews (content analysis) |
| Moore et al. [23] | Canada | SARS-CoV | 105 mixed healthcare workers (occupational health staff, infection control practitioners, physicians, clinical nursing staff, allied health professionals (e.g. respiratory therapists, laboratory technicians, physiotherapists), support staff, hospital managers) | Focus groups (not stated) |
| O’Boyle et al. [58] | USA | Public health emergencies | 33 hospital nurses | Focus groups (not stated) |
| O’Sullivan et al. [59] | Canada | SARS-CoV | 100 nurses | Focus groups (thematic analysis) |
| Pearce et al. [60] | Australia | General influenza pandemic | 19 (9 nurses, 10 GPs) | Interviews & focus groups (not stated) |
| Raven et al. [20] | Sierra Leone | Ebola | 25 frontline healthcare workers | In depth interviews, semi-structured interviews and observation (framework analysis) |
| Raven et al. [61] | Sierra Leone | Ebola | 25 mixed healthcare workers | In-depth interviews (framework analysis) |
| Rubin et al. [25] | West Africa | Ebola | 51 mixed healthcare workers (30 Public Health England staff, 21 non-governmental organization (NGO) staff) | Telephone interviews (thematic analysis although not explicitly stated) |
| Sarikaya & Erbaydar [62] | Turkey | Avian Flu | 17 mixed healthcare workers (12 doctors, 3 allied health personnel, 1 midwife, 1 nurse). | Interviews (thematic analysis) |
| Shaw et al. [63] | Australia | General influenza pandemic | 60 GPs | Semi-structured interviews (thematic analysis although not explicitly stated) |
| Shih et al. [17] | Taiwan | SARS-CoV | 200 Nurses | Semi structured interviews and open-ended questionnaire (thematic analysis) |
| Shih et al. [43] | Taiwan | SARS-CoV | 70 nurse leaders | Focus group interviews (content analysis) |
| Smith et al. [32] | USA | Ebola | 37 (any staff member who participated in the care of the EVD patients who were treated at the NBU during 2014.) | Semi-structured interviews (not stated) |
| Sun et al. [37] | China | COVID-19 | 20 nurses | Semi-structured interviews (Colaizzi’s 7-step method) |
| Taylor et al. [64] | USA | General influenza pandemic | 46 local health department staff (aimed for half the focus groups to be with frontline local health department staff) | Focus groups (thematic analysis) |
| von Strauss et al. [44] | West Africa | Ebola | 44 nurses | Open-ended questionnaire (not stated) |
| Wong et al. [65] | Hong Kong | H1N1 | 10 mixed healthcare workers | Semi-structured interviews (thematic analysis) |
| Yin & Zeng [18] | China | COVID-19 | 10 nurses | Semi structured interviews (category analysis) |