Table 5.

Themes and representative quotations from the free‐text answers given by Norwegian and Canadian RTs.

Question category	Theme	Representative quotations
Describe mental health issues that you are experiencing due to working during COVID‐19 pandemic.	1. Generalised anxiety	Generally worried about bringing it [COVID‐19] to loved ones as an asymptomatic carrier. Fear of passing it to a patient if unknowingly affected. I have anxiety going to work, I never get time alone, there is nowhere to eat or read alone. It [COVID‐19] has consumed my consciousness.
	2. Physical, emotional, & cognitive symptoms of stress	Stress from coworkers who are extremely anxious about COVID‐19. Suffering from impaired attention span; mental exhaustion. Trying to keep a vulnerable group (cancer patients) safe is causing stress.
	3. Loneliness	Feel isolated, and worried to go out and pass virus to someone. Feelings of isolation due to others' perception of health care workers being ‘high risk,’ i.e., friends not wanting to see me because of my high patient load. Feel like just not interacting with outside, staying home, doing nothing.
Describe how COVID‐19 has affected your quality of life.	1. Negatively impacted physical and mental health	I was essentially exhausted at the end of the day. The stress felt from the pandemic has affected my quality of sleep—harder to fall asleep, still feeling fatigued when I wake up. Not directly the impact on myself, but the psychological impact it has had on the people around me has affected my quality of life.
	2. Quality of relationships	I miss seeing my patients’ faces, and my coworkers faces ‐ seeing their emotions is such an important part of my job. Loss of work‐life balance and stress meant that my family did not get the best of me. Missing social outlets with coworkers. My work friendships have changed as we don't get to bond over out‐of‐work activities.