The experiences and challenges of caring for a healthcare professional patient in intensive and acute care settings: A cross-sectional exploratory survey

作者：Lynne Hunt, Melissa Riegel, Robyn Gallagher, Thomas Buckley · 发表于：Australian Critical Care · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.aucc.2025.101453 · 被引用次数：3 · 研究领域：Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout、Nursing education and management、Intensive Care Unit Cognitive Disorders

BACKGROUND: Hospital admission can be a stressful experience for patients and their families. Although healthcare professionals can also be patients, there is limited understanding of nurses' experiences when caring for them in hospital settings. AIM: The aims of this study were to explore the challenges nurses encounter while caring for hospitalised healthcare professionals and to compare experiences between participants in intensive care unit and acute care settings. METHODS: A cross-sectional exploratory study was conducted in July 2022 using an online survey via Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) with registered nurses who had cared for a healthcare professional-patient within the previous 3 years. RESULTS: Sixty-nine participants were included, with a mean age of 44.8 years and a mean of 18.8 years of experience as a registered nurse; 49% worked in intensive care and 51% in acute care settings, including surgery, emergency, and cardiology. A substantial 63.7% reported that caring for healthcare professional-patients was more challenging, while 49.3% found it more stressful than caring for non-healthcare professional-patients. Only 3% had received prior education that supported them in this role, despite 87% feeling prepared to deliver care and 75% feeling comfortable doing so. Open-ended questions reflecting on their experience caring for healthcare professional-patients generated three themes: enhanced support and knowledge needed to facilitate the role reversal ...