Table 2.

Quotes for theme 1 and subthemes: personal responsibility

The responsibility to care for patients	Professional identity: “I love my work. I love what I do. It’s selfless every day, but it’s been like that for years, and it will continue to be like that.” (Nurse) “I do it because it’s my responsibility, and when you’re a physician, that’s your responsibility, no matter what happens. So, I don’t feel very different given that there’s a pandemic, because it’s never been a question that I stay home and be afraid to go to work.” (Physician)
	Working during the pandemic as expansion of ED work: “People are going to have to understand that hygiene and housekeeping is very important. We are there for prevention. We are there to eliminate. We are microorganism hunters. We fight them 100%. It’s not only COVID. It’s gastro, it’s tuberculosis. We knew how to get rid of this thing, to prevent people from getting contaminated.” (Housekeeping)
	ED workers’ attributes: “I think we’re in a very, very adaptable field of medicine. It’s our bread and butter to adapt to situations. It’s something we are all proud of. And to be prepared, to prepare for everything.” (Physician) “You know, that’s the emergency room. You have to live with a certain amount of stress. If you can’t deal with it, you don’t work in the emergency room, you work somewhere else.” (PCA)
	Sense of purpose: “I was excited. It’s a little weird to say, but I thought to myself: we’re trained as emergency nurses. And I feel like I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this. I wouldn’t have wanted to be on vacation or confined at home. Here, I get the impression that I’m useful. I’m doing more than watching Netflix or gardening, so I feel useful in this crisis.” (Nurse)
Balancing risks /protection	High-risk environment: “The virus is there, next to me, and I get uncomfortable. It scares me.” (Unit clerk)
	Risk of contracting a COVID-19 infection: “I am happy, I’ve had a beautiful life, I have a beautiful life, so if I die, well I’ll have done really everything I wanted. (…) I try to do the maximum, for the patients, and for everyone around… So if it’s my turn, well it will be my turn, but I’d rather live longer.” (Physician)
	Protection as pre-requisite to provision of care: “Protection is paramount, and it’s your health before the patient’s, unfortunately, because if you have an expertise in emergency, that expertise is very important, and it is precious, because you’re not replaceable, or not very replaceable. So, you have to protect yourself and think about your health and not contaminate yourself.” (Nurse)
Responsibility to the team	Part of the team: “For me, it’s a win. It’s a win to be with people, to be with professionals, to make decisions, to work in the same direction, to get results, sometimes that are positive, sometimes that are negative, but that’s part of the day-to-day. I anticipate coming to work, but in the end, I will go to work anyway because they need me. Yes, we are replaceable, but I feel the need to be there, to help, to support, because it isn’t easy for anyone.” (PCA)
	Teamwork as core value amplified by the pandemic: “I think there’s nothing like group solidarity to create something coherent and trustworthy.” (Physician)
	Trust in the ED team: “In the emergency department, we react the best that we can with what we have. So, we trust them more. Because we know that our doctors, our team, they care about our health and safety.” (Nurse)
	Potential for conflicts: “It was rocky. They were some more difficult times, some easier times. But year-round, it’s hard sometimes too, we have our conflicts. Since the beginning of COVID, there have been more difficult moments. There are people who questioned their careers.” (Physician)