TYPE
Original Research
26 January 2023
10.3389/fpubh.2023.989458
PUBLISHED
DOI
OPEN ACCESS
EDITED BY
Sunjoo Kang,
Yonsei University, Republic of Korea
REVIEWED BY
Somayeh Khezerloo,
Khoy University of Medical Sciences, Iran
MirHossein Aghaei,
Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Iran
Explanation of factors forming
missed nursing care during the
COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative
study
Salman Barasteh
s.barasteh@gmail.com
Ali Safdari1,2 , Maryam Rassouli3 , Maryam Elahikhah1 ,
Hadis Ashrafizadeh4 , Salman Barasteh5,6*, Raana Jafarizadeh7 and
Fatemeh Khademi8
SPECIALTY SECTION
1
*CORRESPONDENCE
This article was submitted to
Public Health Policy,
a section of the journal
Frontiers in Public Health
08 July 2022
03 January 2023
PUBLISHED 26 January 2023
RECEIVED
ACCEPTED
CITATION
Safdari A, Rassouli M, Elahikhah M,
Ashrafizadeh H, Barasteh S, Jafarizadeh R and
Khademi F (2023) Explanation of factors
forming missed nursing care during the
COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study.
Front. Public Health 11:989458.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.989458
COPYRIGHT
© 2023 Safdari, Rassouli, Elahikhah,
Ashrafizadeh, Barasteh, Jafarizadeh and
Khademi. This is an open-access article
distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use,
distribution or reproduction in other forums is
permitted, provided the original author(s) and
the copyright owner(s) are credited and that
the original publication in this journal is cited, in
accordance with accepted academic practice.
No use, distribution or reproduction is
permitted which does not comply with these
terms.
Student Research Committee, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, 2 Student Research
Committee, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran, 3 Cancer Research Center, Shahid
Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, 4 Student Research Committee, Faculty of Nursing,
Dezful University of Medical Sciences, Dezful, Iran, 5 Health Management Research Center, Baqiyatallah
University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, 6 Nursing Faculty, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences,
Tehran, Iran, 7 Department of Medicine, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran, 8 Department of
Nursing, School of Nursing, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran
Background: Providing nursing care to patients with COVID-19 has put additional
pressure on nurses, making it challenging to meet several care requirements. This
situation has caused parts of nursing care to be missed, potentially reducing the quality
of nursing care and threatening patient safety. Therefore, the present study aimed at
explaining the factors forming missed nursing care during the COVID-19 pandemic
from the perspective of nurses.
Methods: This qualitative study was conducted using a conventional content analysis
approach in Iran, 2020–2021. Data were collected from in-depth, semi-structured
interviews with 14 nurses based on purposive sampling. Data analysis was performed
simultaneously with data collection. Graneheim and Lundman’s approach was used
for data analysis, and MAXQDA software was used for data management. After
transcribing the recorded interviews, to achieve the accuracy and validity of the study,
the criteria proposed by Lincoln and Guba were considered and used.
Results: A total of 14 nurses with a mean age and standard deviation of 31.85 ± 4.95
and working in the COVID-19 wards participated in the study. The acquired data were
categorized into four main categories: care-related factors, disease-related factors,
patient-related factors, and organization-related factors. The category “care-related
factors” comprised uncertainty in care, PPE-related limitations, attrition from care,
and futile care. The category “disease-related factors” consisted of the extension of
symptoms, unpredictable peaks of the disease, and restriction on the presence of
patients’ companions. The category “patient-related factors” included comorbidities,
elderly patients, and deterioration of infected patients. Ultimately, the category
“organization-related factors” consisted of restrictions on equipment supply, lack of
human resources, weaknesses in teamwork, and an unsupportive work environment.
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that several reasons including factors
related to care, patient, disease, and organization cause missed nursing care. By
modifying the related affecting factors and considering the effective mechanisms to
minimize missed nursing care, it is possible to provide better services.
KEYWORDS
missed nursing care, qualitative study, COVID-19, pandemic, nursing, Iran, hospital, quality of
care
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1. Introduction
“leave intention and subsequent turnover,” “reduction of hospital
credit,” and “increase of hospital costs” (24, 25). Safdari et al. in a
qualitative study reported that the causes of missed nursing care were
categorized into four categories, namely, “unfulfilled care,” “care at an
improper time,” “incomplete care,” and “incorrect care” (25).
The COVID-19 pandemic required new methods of recruiting
staff, transferring nurses to other units, and forcing them to work
in new roles and tasks as well as working with new colleagues.
The number of patients was expected to increase, and there was
insufficient knowledge about how to care for patients with COVID19. These conditions can potentially affect the quality of care and
patient safety (26).
To study human phenomena, the evaluation of different
perspectives is the best qualitative method. Humanity, social, cultural,
and relationship dimensions and values cannot be described well
through quantitative approaches (27). By using qualitative study,
it is possible to discover, describe, and explain unknown or littleknown phenomena from the language of those who experience those
phenomena in different cultures (28). Due to the fact that missed
nursing care has recently raised wide concerns in the field of health
and treatment, and despite its high prevalence and importance, few
studies have been conducted on it. The effort to prevent missed
nursing care needs extensive research in the field of health and
treatment (29). Since the coronavirus pandemic, the world is facing a
huge amount of missed care in addition to reported medical errors,
and this phenomenon has received less attention and focus in Iran,
so there is little information about this concept, the extent of this
problem, and the factors related to it. Patient care experiences during
a pandemic can be useful for optimizing patient care delivery in the
future and current crises (30). Therefore, the present qualitative study
was conducted with the aim of explaining factors forming missed
nursing care during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective
of nurses.
To date, the COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the biggest
public health crises (1). According to a recent report by the World
Health Organization (WHO), 22 December 2022–to date, about
6,671,610 people have lost their lives to COVID-19 (2). The health
systems of different countries have been subjected to extensive
pressure and restrictions due to the severity, volume, extent, and
uncertainty in the treatment of the COVID-19 pandemic (3).
Furthermore, the lack of sufficient financial resources and personnel
has played an outstanding role in aggravating these conditions to
deal with this health crisis (4). Nurses caring for patients with
COVID-19 have faced many other challenges, including working in
a new environment, being worn out by the workload, the struggle
of wearing protective gear, fear of COVID-19, witnessing suffering,
keeping their patients safe with extra measures, teamwork, and a
true calling (5). Moreover, facing the current critical situation, health
workers and nurses are at risk of experiencing psychological distress
including anxiety, fear, depression, and insomnia (6). Recent studies
indicate that nurses are unable to meet the complex care needs of
patients with COVID-19 and feel helpless to perform their duties
(7, 8). These conditions have led to the loss of an essential part of
the care of patients with COVID-19 (9).
Missed nursing care includes any clinical, administrative, or
psychological care that is (in whole or part) delayed or not performed
during a given shift (10). Missed nursing care, also known as
implicitly rationed care, incomplete care, or unfinished care, is a
prominent concern in many healthcare systems worldwide (11, 12).
Smith et al. (13) stated that 49% of nurses in the United States admit
to missing at least one or more nursing care tasks. Meanwhile, Cho
et al. stated that 81% of nurses in Korea admit to missing nursing
care (14). When the number of patients the nurse cares for reaches
7–11, the percentage of missed nursing care increases up to 89% (15).
Nilasari et al. (16) described observations in a hospital, where nurses
neglected to provide conditions, nutrition, and personal hygiene.
According to the global prevalence rates ranging from 55 to 98%
(17), missed nursing care often occurs when nurses do not perform
required nursing care tasks due to the enhancement of patient care
demands, insufficient manpower and financial resources, or other
challenges. Missed nursing care is associated with negative outcomes
for patients, nurses, and the organization (18), which has negative
consequences such as increased medication errors, pressure ulcers,
infection, falls, mortality, and patient dissatisfaction (19).
Factors that caused missed nursing care vary in different
countries depending on the work environment, available resources
(human and financial resources), cultural factors, and the existence
of specific guidelines or protocols in each country (20). The nursing
work environment such as very few staff, the time required for
the nursing intervention, poor use of existing staff resources, and
ineffective delegation largely predicts the amount of missed care
and the factors influencing its formation (21). On the contrary,
fulfilling all care requirements in a pandemic is improbable (22),
and missed nursing care is inevitable and unpredictable (23).
The consequences of missed nursing care in a recent study in
Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic were described as follows:
“moral distress,” “job dissatisfaction,” “reduced quality of nursing
care,” “patient dissatisfaction,” “adverse effects,” “absence of work,”
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Design and setting
The present qualitative study was conducted using a conventional
content analysis approach (31). This study was conducted from
December 2020 to February 2021 in Tehran. The selected hospitals
as the study setting included Baqiyatallah Al-Azam in Tehran and
Amir Al-Momenin and Ayatollah Khansari in Arak. These three
hospitals were considered referral centers for patients with COVID19. The study report was presented using the consolidated criteria for
qualitative reporting research (COREQ) (32).
2.2. Participants and sampling
We considered at least 2 years of nursing experience as well
as 1 month of caring for patients with COVID-19 as sufficient
experience. Demographic and clinical variables are given in Table 1.
The inclusion criteria included having formal care experiences of the
patient with COVID-19 and having experience of missed nursing
care in caring for patients with COVID-19. After the agreement,
no participants refused or withdrew. Participants were purposefully
selected with maximum variation (selecting nurses from different
parts of the country and different hospitals who can represent the
Abbreviations: MNC, missed nursing care.
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nursing community). Purposive sampling, also known as judgmental,
selective, or subjective sampling, is a form of non-probability
sampling in which researchers rely on their judgment when selecting
members of the population to participate in their surveys. This
sample is selected in such a way that it has the characteristics of real
society as much as possible. Finally, 14 nurses were interviewed as
participants in the study. Interviews were conducted after obtaining
the consent of the participants. The place and time of interviews
were arranged based on the participant’s preference and agreement to
ensure their comfort during the interview. Interviews were conducted
by AS, a 32-year-old male nursing graduate student with 5 years of
nursing experience. Before the interview, he had participated in a
qualitative study course and had received training in a qualitative
study, and interviewing, coding, and reporting were done by SB.
Data collection was carried out until saturation, and finally, no new
information was added after 14 interviews. The saturation point is
reached when no new evidence is obtained from the data. In other
words, complete verification of the data has been done and no new
category has been created.
Lundman is presented in Table 3. An example of data analysis is
presented in Table 4.
2.5. Trustworthiness
By considering credibility, transferability, dependability, and
confirmability as Guba and Lincoln’s criteria, trustworthiness was
improved (39). Based on this, the credibility of the data was
determined through a prolonged engagement with the participants,
returning the interview text to the participants and obtaining
their approval, and evaluating the transcripts, codes, and themes
of the interviews by three experts. In addition, reliability was
determined using a combination of methods for data collection
(interview, observation, and field notes). We spend enough time
collecting and immersing in the data from December 2020 to
February 2021. Besides, to conduct member check and peer
check techniques, the findings were checked by some participants
and two other researchers, respectively. To achieve dependability
and confirmability, the research team attempted to achieve a
definitive organization of data (all research processes, particularly
data collection, data analysis, and formation of categories, were
recorded and presented to be used by audiences and readers);
consequently, a common consensus was reached. For transferability,
a detailed analytical description of the context, methodology, and
limitations was reported to an external observer who was familiar
with qualitative studies. Also, maximum variation sampling was done
by interviewing nurses with different education, wards and shifts, and
different ages.
2.3. Data collection
In-depth and semi-structured interviews with participants were
used to collect data. Data collection and analysis were done
simultaneously. Each interview was conducted by the first author. Indepth semi-structured interviews evoke very meaningful narratives.
These interviews turn questions on a specific topic into storytelling
invitations (33). This type of interview is perceived as ‘talking’ and
talking is natural (34). The average interview time was 52 ± 5.71 min
and was continued until data saturation was met. The interviews
continued until data saturation was reached; in other words, no
further codes or subcategories were achieved. In other words, we
achieve data saturation (35). The interview was organized in four
phases (36). They are (1) the orientation phase: the researcher
introduced himself and the title of the study, and permission to
record the interviews was obtained; (2) the main question phase:
the main question was asked; (3) the probing phase: depending on
the experiences of participation, further questions were asked; and
(4) the final phase: at the end, participants were allowed to add any
further information if they were willing. The details of questions are
presented in Table 2.
A total of 14 nurses (14 interviews were conducted) with mean
age and standard deviation of 31.85 ± 4.95 working in the COVID19 wards participated in the study. The participants’ characteristics
are presented in Table 1. A total of 310 codes were extracted and 63
duplicate codes were found. Factors affecting the formation of missed
care during the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in four categories and
14 subcategories (Table 5). The categories were “care-related factors,”
“disease-related factors,” “patient-related factors,” and “organizationrelated factors.”
2.4. Data analysis
3.1. Care-related factors
To analyze qualitative data, Graneheim and Lundman method
was used (37). For encoding and data management, MAXQDA
software version 10 was used (38). The coding process was conducted
by removing duplicate codes and merging similar codes according
to constant comparative analysis. The interviews were transcribed
by AS. AS and SB coded the interviews and they read them several
times to gain an understanding of the entire interview. Following
that, we identified the meaning units and the primary codes. The
text was divided into semantic units that were compressed. The
compressed meaning units were abstracted and labeled with a code.
Afterward, similar primary codes were condensed and merged into
subcategories, and the main categories were extracted. Qualitative
data analysis based on the method proposed by Graneheim and
The limitations and complexities of caring for patients with
COVID-19 lead to numerous interruptions in the treatment process,
wasting time, and sometimes hasty or delayed nursing decisions.
This category consists of four subcategories: “Uncertainty in
care,” “Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)-related limitations,”
“Attrition from care,” and “Futile care.”
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3. Findings
3.1.1. Uncertainty in care
Some participants mentioned that the confusion caused among
nurses due to constant changes in nursing guidelines designed
to identify and care for patients with COVID-19 had led to
uncertainty and ambiguity in the provision of nursing services.
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TABLE 1 Demographic and clinical information of study participants.
Participant no
Age
(year)
Sex
Experience Ward
(years)
Shift circulating
Education level
Duration of
interview (minutes)
P1
30
Female
6
General
Rotation
Bachelor
50
P2
28
Female
5
General
Morning/ evening
Bachelor
56
P3
35
Female
10
ICU
Rotation
Masters
45
P4
29
Female
4
ICU
Rotation
Masters
46
P5
29
Male
5
Emergency
Rotation
Masters
56
P6
33
Female
8
General
Night
Masters
52
P7
39
Male
15
Emergency
Rotation
Masters
63
P8
32
Female
7
General
Rotation
Bachelor
45
P9
28
Female
7
General
Rotation
Bachelor
56
P10
33
Female
10
General
Morning
Bachelor
50
P11
44
Female
18
ICU
Rotation
Bachelor
52
P12
33
Female
8
General
Rotation
Bachelor
45
P13
27
Female
3
General
Rotation
Bachelor
52
P14
26
Male
2
Emergency
Rotation
Bachelor
60
TABLE 2 The interview questions.
TABLE 3 Qualitative data analysis process based on Graneheim and
Lundman method (33).
Questions
Primary questions
Mention “your experience of caring for COVID-19 patients”
The next questions are based on the participants’ experiences
Examples:
Phase
Method
Creating content in text format
Transcribing the entire interview immediately
after each interview
Getting a general sense
The text of the interview was read several times by
the researcher.
Creating initial codes
Determining the meaning units and labeling by
the initial codes
Creating subcategories
Classifying similar primary codes into more
comprehensive subcategories by grouping the
number of codes and merging similar codes based
on their differences and similarities
Creating categories
Reducing the number of subcategories and
merging them into more general units based on
conceptual and logical relationships with
other categories
What were the conditions of COVID-19 patients?
- How many covid-19 patients did you care for daily?
- What stress did you experience while caring for these
patients?
- What was the intensity of the shifts?
- How was your experience with the high number of deaths
of COVID-19 patients?
Main question
What were the reasons for the missing of nursing care during
the COVID-19 pandemic?
Probing questions
Based on the participants’ experiences probing questions were
asked. Examples:
- What care is missed while caring for COVID-19 patients?
- How much of your care was missed during this pandemic?
- What factors contributed to the missing of nursing care
during the COVID-19 pandemic?
- How and under what circumstances was this care missed?
Terminal question
3.1.2. PPE-related limitations
Continued use of personal protective equipment (PPE) had
caused numerous problems for nurses, including reduced mobility
and agility, wasting time on wearing and using them, fatigue,
sweating and heat, difficulty in physical distancing and having contact
with patients, and the inability of patients to recognize nurses’ sex.
In addition to creating fear of insufficient factors in dealing with
patients, PPE has also reduced the frequency of nurses’ contact
with patients.
Do you have any other points or questions?
Despite over a year since the onset of the pandemic and accumulated
clinical experiences, participants believed that the disease was still
not fully known and that there were many unknowns regarding
the prevention, treatment, and care of patients among healthcare
providers that had caused existing treatments to be ineffective.
“At the start of each shift, they first give us a mask and a gown,
and we have to use it until the end of the shift. If it gets infected, they
don’t give us an extra one... We sweat a lot under these clothes; it’s
really hard, we can’t talk to and contact patients properly. We can’t
do much of the patient’s work properly under this situation” (P12).
“... According to what we were told, we used to think that it
would be better to place our patients in a semi-sitting position in
order to help them breathe better. We had one or two patients who
had a lowering in blood pressure when we used an NIV mask for
them, and their oxygen saturation level was still low” (P13).
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TABLE 4 An example of data analysis.
Main categories
Subcategories
Basic codes
Quotation
disease-related factors
Unpredictable peaks of the disease
Shortages caused by the start of new peak
“At the onset of the pandemic, when the number of
hospitalizations was high, we faced great shortages. Now,
when the number of hospital admissions increases
unpredictably, we get into trouble every time, and we can’t
take care of the patients as we should and had to eliminate a
lot of care...” (P4)
TABLE 5 Factors influencing missed nursing care.
Category
Subcategory
Care-related factors
Uncertainty in care
“... When we really know that the patient’s condition is very
complicated, she/he has a very severe disease and she/he will not
return to life and they are waiting for her to expire, it means that
our care is in futile” (P6).
PPE-related limitations
Attrition from care
Futile care
Disease-related factors
3.2. Disease-related factors
The extension of symptoms
Unpredictable peaks of the disease
The unpredictable nature of COVID-19 has led to various
disease peaks in the community and the influx of large numbers
of patients with a wide range of symptoms into hospitals. This
category consists of three subcategories: “Extension of symptoms,”
“Unpredictable peaks of the disease,” and “Restriction on the presence
of patients’ companions.”
Restriction on the presence of patients’ companions
Patient-related factors
Comorbidities
Elderly patients
Deterioration of infected patients
Organization-related factors
Restrictions on equipment supply
Lack of human resources
Weaknesses in teamwork
3.2.1. Extension of symptoms
Unsupportive work environment
The complexity caused by the nature of corona disease, the
severity of the disease, extensive and systematic side effects, the
multitude of drugs used to treat the disease, and the mechanisms
of the drug’s effect have created many tasks for nurses, which lack
knowledge and awareness in most cases, and finally, this issue
increases the workload of nurses. Ultimately, this has caused nurses
to omit some essential care.
3.1.3. Attrition from care
Conflicts between fear and conscience and between fatigue and
commitment due to the constant exposure of patients with an
infectious disease, high patient mortality, and continued use of
PPE have led to attrition from care. Attrition from care leads to
psychological problems (such as depression and anxiety) in nurses,
threatens the continuation of nursing care, and ultimately leads to
the elimination of part of nursing care.
“Different classes of drugs such as respiratory, gastrointestinal,
cardiac, etc., are used for patients. . . . We suddenly came across
too many drugs such as Tocilizumab, Adalimumab, Remdesivir. . .
We did not know the mechanism of action and even the side
effects of many of them. . . There are a lot of tasks related to
drug administration and the patients’ tasks, most of which remain
uncompleted at the end of the shift” (P9).
“We sometimes got into moral conflicts. We were both afraid
of being exposed to patients’ discharge and we felt responsible.... I
remember that in one shift four of our patients died.... This personal
protective equipment was added to all the stories. . . ” (P8).
3.1.4. Futile care
3.2.2. Unpredictable peaks of the disease
It is difficult for a nurse to perform futile care because despite
knowing that an action is futile, he/she had to do it, and this issue
causes moral conflicts, resulting in unwillingness to work, especially
in the special care department. In the meantime, the high mortality
rate of patients with COVID-19 and the death of young patients
has led to the care interventions, not only would they not improve
patient prognosis, health, comfort, and wellbeing but they would also
lead to a waste of nurses’ time and lack of sufficient opportunity to
provide basic care to patients, resulting in the omission or neglect of
some care.
The sudden increase in new cases of the disease leads to the loss
of balance between demand and facilities and staff, and subsequently
not providing full nursing care to patients.
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“At the onset of the pandemic, when the number of
hospitalizations was high, we faced great shortages. Now, when
the number of hospital admissions increases unpredictably,
we get into trouble every time, and we can’t take care
of the patients as we should and had to eliminate a lot
of care...” (P4).
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3.2.3. Restriction on the presence of patients’
companions
3.3.3. Deterioration of infected patients
During the peak of this pandemic, many critically ill patients
were admitted to the intensive care unit. Due to the weakness of
management at different levels, the admission of a large number of
patients in need of vital services, more equipment, specialist nurses,
and organizational management increased significantly. Therefore,
due to the deterioration of the condition of the affected patients, part
of the service was lost.
Participants believed that the impossibility of companions’
presence at the patients’ bedsides created psychological problems for
patients and their families and made it difficult for families to meet
patients’ basic needs.
“Most patients have no companions; that’s why they call the
nurse all the time. Because we don’t have any nursing -assistant, we
don’t have the opportunity to respond to all the patients’ requests,
so some of our patients get upset” (P3).
“Our ward used to be CCU. We generally took care of heart
disease. But now, our ward has become COVID ward. Now we
have a large number of critically ill patients whose type of care has
changed. We no longer do those previous things. We must provide
ICU care to the patient. We don’t take care of ourselves on our own.
It is not in our hands” (P6).
3.3. Patient-related factors
Diverse sociocultural status, combined psychosocial problems,
comorbidities, elderly patients, and deterioration of patients have led
to a lack of maximum care and the missing part of care.
3.4. Organization-related factors
Weaknesses in the formulation and implementation
of national and organizational policies in the absence of
explicit guidelines, changes in the use and staff of different
inpatient wards without prior planning due to the need for
immediate decisions to manage the current crisis, organizational
constraints in providing adequate resources (human and
financial), and lack of job and social support for nurses are
among the factors influencing the elimination of nursing care.
This category consists of four subcategories: “Restrictions
on equipment supply,” “Lack of staffing,” “Weakness in the
team and inter-professional cooperation,” and “Unsupportive
work environment.”
3.3.1. Comorbidities
Nurses somehow deal with the complexity and confusion of
caregivers due to the inability to provide correct and quality care
due to the lack of access to reliable and valid information and the
lack of proper understanding of the received information, as well
as the lack of previous exposure to the care of chronic patients on
the one hand and the unpredictable nature of the disease and its
consequences on the other hand. The presence of comorbidities in
some hospitalized patients and the need to provide related care had
led to an increase in nurses’ workload and sometimes the elimination
of some essential care.
“Our colleagues are under pressure. Imagine a patient
undergoing dialysis who has been admitted to the ward. What
problem do you think we should address? We should be alert not
to miss the potassium and urea tests of the patient and address the
respiratory problem at the same time” (P13).
3.4.1. Restrictions on equipment supply
Lack of equipment and supplies following the increase in
demands had led to delays and the elimination of some patient care.
“You may not believe that we also have a shortage of suction
catheters in the hospital! We have to work in this situation. But,
the shortage of equipment sometimes interferes with the treatment
and care. It was only yesterday that the buttons of one of the
ventilators no longer worked. We barely kept the patient alive with
a mask and a bag valve mask until a new ventilator was attached to
him” (P10).
3.3.2. Elderly patients
Commitment and compliance with the ethical principles of care
is an important task in nursing practice, which takes precedence
over care in providing care to the patient. Therefore, compliance
with professional ethical standards in the nursing care of patients is
considered very important and necessary. According to the evidence
and for various reasons, our nurses are not taking care of the patients
and our culture in an ideal way, and there has been negligence toward
this issue. For example, more than half of the hospitalized patients
are elderly and experienced much higher disease severity than other
patients. On the contrary, in addition to the need for COVID-19specific care, these patients also needed elderly care. Nurses inevitably
prioritized and addressed patients’ critical care needs. This had led to
the delay or elimination of some patient care and services.
3.4.2. Lack of human resources
Restrictions on the employment of professional nurses have led
to the employment of nursing students, staff passing their training
courses, retirees, and nurses with no work experience in infectious
disease wards and intensive care units.
“Our managers sent all the staff passing their training course
and novice staff to our ward. You know, there’re a lot of tasks
associated with COVID-19 patients. Our staff can’t even find a
vein. They aren’t to blame; they’ve just entered this profession...
They aren’t fast enough. We see the drugs aren’t administrated even
until the end of shift” (P5).
“The conditions of some COVID-19 patients, especially very
old ones, are very critical and serious. Some of them were coded
together in a single shift, and we had CPR consecutively. I was so
busy that I couldn’t monitor the vital signs of my patients in that
shift” (P4).
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3.4.3. Weaknesses in teamwork
dying patients and the lack of relationship between the severity of
symptoms and the death of patients had led to nurses’ perception
of futile care and consequently their negligence in performing some
tasks and reduced quality and quantity of nursing care. This factor
is consistent with the concept of “understanding incompetence in
rescuing patients with COVID-19” in Sheng’s study (8).
Nurses argued that constant use of PPE had led to reduced
mobility, wasted time, and fatigue. In addition, PPE was influential
in establishing communication with patients due to patient’s
inability to recognize the gender of nurses and create an intimate
and trustworthy environment. The combination of these factors
led to interruptions in the provision of care. Similarly, Ferrari
et al.’s study noted the effects of PPE on the trustworthiness
relationship, its impact on communication resources, and
strategies for overcoming communication barriers as PPErelated limitations (42). Also, Hoernke et al. noted that care
continued to be provided despite the physical discomfort, practical
problems, and communication barriers associated with PPE
use (43).
Participants stated that the conflicts between fear and conscience
and between fatigue and commitment in the constant exposure to
patients with the infectious disease were among the factors causing
attrition from care followed by an inability to provide appropriate
care to patients. Other studies have shown that nurses find it
challenging and sometimes impossible to meet all care requirements
in the face of job stress, and they may shorten, delay, or eliminate
some of the necessary care (44). Galehdar et al. also mentioned
that caring for patients with COVID-19 affects all aspects of nurses’
work and life including the bad feeling of inefficiency, problems of
providing care and pollution, a prisoner in the fence of protective
equipment, and workload. This can lead to the disintegration and
gradual erosion of patient care over time (45). Gao et al. in
China stated that nurses’ long working hours during the current
pandemic were a compelling factor in increasing errors and adverse
outcomes of the disease and reducing occupational performance
and the quality of nursing care (46). Therefore, it is suggested
that by improving the working status of nurses while caring for
patients with COVID-19, the attrition from care can be directly or
indirectly reduced.
Futile care is another dimension of missed care. Sometimes
failure to treat patients leads to a sense of the futility of care (47).
A total of 73.80% of the nurses in the study by Eftekhar Ardebili
et al. believed that the care they provided to patients with COVID19 was almost futile, especially in cases where patients died despite
all their interventions (48). In this situation, nurses suffer from a
mismatch between their best efforts to save the patient and the
feedback they receive from the patient (8). In addition, differences
in the role of physicians and nurses in understanding the nature and
examples of futile care have led to a gap in their perception of this
concept (49).
Nurses also have an alternative role of caring for the patients’
families due to the restrictive guidelines on the presence of
companions at patients’ bedsides (50). Nurses stated that patients
were dissatisfied with restrictions, which, in addition to creating
psychological problems associated with the disease, had caused
serious challenges for them in adherence to treatment and
participation in care. However, Dehghan Nayeri et al. mentioned
that family and companions’ presence at patients’ bedsides in
Iranian hospitals caused congestion in patients’ rooms and delays
The change in the composition of the care team following the
change in the previous wards, the dispatch of nurses to the infectious
disease centers, and the recruitment of a large number of new and
non-specialist staff have led to changes in professional relationships
and disagreements over providing patient care. This weakness in
inter-professional cooperation and the care needs of patients had led
to the elimination of some nursing care.
“In our ward, the physicians don’t care much about us and the
care we provided. They don’t listen to us when we talk about the
patient, and they do their job” (P6).
3.4.4. Unsupportive work environment
Expectations beyond nurses’ capacity, inequality, and
discrimination in salaries and bonuses to nurses who are at the
forefront of the fight against COVID-19 and the lack of power
and autonomy of nurses in the healthcare system as professional
personnel had reduced nurses’ organizational commitment.
“We’ve been in the COVID-19 ward for several months and
in contact with the patients throughout the shifts, and in constant
danger. But when they want to prioritize the staff ’s hard work, the
nurses are the last priorities ... Well, this discrimination affects our
motivation to work, and some staff may not work as they should do
it” (P11).
4. Discussion
Studies show that the current pandemic has affected the process
of providing care to patients (3, 28, 30). Nurses at the frontline
of dealing with this disease are facing challenges in providing
appropriate care to patients. Therefore, the present study aimed to
explain the factors forming missed nursing care during the COVID19 pandemic from the perspective of nurses. In their view, meeting
all care requirements in a pandemic is highly challenging, and nurses
have to rationalize, delay, or eliminate nursing care as missed nursing
care (MNC). Participants in this study described the factors affecting
the formation of missed care during the COVID-19 pandemic in
four domains, namely, care-related factors, disease-related factors,
patient-related factors, and organization-related factors.
“Care-related factors” were among the main categories
extracted from the interviews which consist of five subclasses, which are as follows: “Uncertainty in care,” “PPE-related
limitations,” “Attrition from care,” “Futile care,” and “Restriction
on the presence of patients’ companions.”
Most participants stated that confusion in the face of uncertainty,
ambiguity, and continuous changes in care protocols of COVID-19
was an important factor leading to MNC. The experience of previous
pandemics likewise showed that the initial planning for patient
care was not feasible due to the unpredictability of the conditions
during the pandemic (40). Tan et al. expressed unfamiliarity with
the environment and disease as one of the negative experiences of
frontline nurses against COVID-19 (41). Furthermore, uncertainty
about care in the presence of factors such as a high number of
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The final category from this study was organization-related
factors, which were divided into four subcategories (restrictions on
equipment supply, lack of human resources, weaknesses in teamwork,
and unsupportive work environment).
Our study quotations revealed that the lack of equipment,
supplies, and intensive care beds was out of nurses’ control and
authority, which inevitably caused some care to be missed. In the
study by Dehghan Nayeri et al., likewise, issues such as wasting nurses’
time due to the use of old, defective equipment and the lack of
facilities and equipment were mentioned as factors affecting MNC
in health centers in Iran (55).
Another issue argued by participants was the insufficient number
of nurses to care for patients infected with COVID-19. The
WHO acknowledges a shortage of approximately 6 million nurses
worldwide (55). The shortage of employed nurses is considered a
significant challenge facing the health system in Iran (56). Statistics
show that in Iran, there are 1.97 nurses per 1,000 population (57). In
contrast, in China, the number of nurses is only 2.73, United States
(2014) 8.76, Japan (2015) 11.46, and Germany (2015) 13.51 per
1,000 people (58), which indicates a significant shortage of nurses
to provide optimum care in Iran. Similarly, in the study by Tan
et al., the shortage of nurses significantly affected the quality of
nursing care and the provision of timely care (41). Having a sufficient
number of professionally qualified and experienced nurses increases
efficiency, has positive outcomes in disease control, and reduces
patient mortality (59).
Another challenge faced by nurses is the ambiguity of roles and
responsibilities as vague definitions of jobs, expectations from them,
and their responsibilities (60). Nurses mentioned that the lack of
physicians’ attention to their professional role in patient care could
result in missed nursing care. In the same vein, the study by Albsoul
et al. showed that poor communication between the nursing team
and medical staff was an important factor in MNC (23). However, it
is expected that, by transferring a significant number of healthcare
workers to new wards, the weakness in teamwork following the
pandemic may lead to the formation of new and unfamiliar teams
in in-patient centers, aggravating the situation (61).
Nurses also emphasized that discrimination in salaries, poor
support in recognizing and participating in decision-making, and
low motivation to care for patients in crisis were some of their
issues in MNCs. Sheng et al. mentioned that “unexpected professional
benefits” were part of Chinese nurses’ experience at the forefront
of the fight against the virus. Nurses participating in this study
felt unfair due to the imbalance between their work and rewards
and benefits compared to other healthcare providers, including
physicians, which implied ignoring their professional role in fighting
the virus (8). Fernandez et al. also argued that nurses need
governments, policymaking, and nursing groups to act in supporting
nurses, both during and after a pandemic or epidemic (62).
Missed nursing care is a key indicator of patient safety and
the evaluation of the quality of nursing services. By identifying
factors associated with MNC, appropriate interventions can be
administrated (61). Therefore, explaining the factors affecting MNC
in different clinical health conditions leads to comparable standard
methods and improves the quality of nursing care and patient safety
by providing practical solutions to eliminate or reduce this problem
(10, 23). However, the frequency and type of MNC in different
countries depend on the amount and distribution of resources,
in providing emergency services. Families also caused some care to
be missed by raising numerous questions, performing some care
arbitrarily, and interfering with nursing care provision (51). This
difference can be due to issues such as social isolation and widespread
stigma toward patients with COVID-19, and consequently the need
to accept them as a person in need of care similar to other diseases
and more emotional and psychological support from the family.
The second category from this study was disease-related factors,
which was divided into two subcategories (The extension of
symptoms and Unpredictable peaks of the disease). Due to the
severity of symptoms in some patients, nurses were forced to
prioritize and address their critical care needs. There has always
been this concern that paying more attention to patients’ vital
situations prevents nurses from fulfilling the basic care needs of
other patients (10). It seems more likely to miss some care in
this situation. Therefore, it is essential to educate nurses to make
decisions, prioritize, and classify patients in need of critical care.
Due to the disease’s wide range of symptoms and complications
in patients, the fact that it is not limited to respiratory problems, its
impact on various body systems, and underlying diseases, patients
need a variety of medications and care, resulting in an increased
workload of nurses. It, in turn, requires necessary knowledge
about the application, complications, care, and appropriate nursing
training. Unexpected increases in nurses’ workload and the
occurrence of urgent conditions for patients are the main causes
of MNC (23). The results of this study are consistent with
a similar study before the pandemic in Iran, which considers
factors such as the patient’s condition and the type and nature
of the disease to be effective in the miss of nursing care (51).
Similarly, in a study of Crowe et al. conducted during COVID19, nurses mentioned the factors were due to the changes in
patient management methods and restrictions (e.g., limited patient
contact) and not being able to provide centered nursing care
to prevent the spread of the virus (7). Danielis and Mattiussi
also argued that due to the nature of COVID-19, nurses were
forced to prioritize nursing care tasks that address patients’
oxygenation status positioning to maximize lung expansion, and
administration of antibiotics and antiviral drugs more than
other nursing care tasks such as maintaining personal hygiene,
nursing supervision, and other communication and interaction with
patients (52).
The third category from this study was patient-related factors,
which were divided into three subcategories (comorbidities, elderly
patients, and deterioration of infected patients). Due to special
conditions such as complex care, comorbidities, and disability, aging
is mainly accompanied by missing parts of care. Fitzgerald argues that
in the complex and changeable hospital environment, nurses mainly
prioritize the necessary care to be implemented first, left undone,
or missed (53). Moreover, unexpected and unforeseen increases in
new patients’ admission rate following the new waves of infection
caused imbalance and instability in the number of facilities and
workforce between the two pandemic peaks, each time leading
to the imposition of widespread pressure on healthcare providers.
Unexpected increases in the admission and discharge of patients and
the existence of emergencies led to the failure to provide some care
for patients (49). On the contrary, efforts to shorten the hospital stay
length to admit new patients and the tendency to outpatient care led
to a moderate level of accuracy during hospitalization (54).
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Data availability statement
cultural and social factors, as well as other variables in the nurses’
work environment (20, 49).
The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be
made available by the authors, without undue reservation.
5. Conclusion
Ethics statement
The results of this research showed that from the perspective
of the participants in the research, the most important effective
factors in missing nursing care are categorized into four themes,
namely factors related to care, factors related to the patient, factors
related to the disease, and factors related to the organization. The
results of this study show that an unpredictable, varying, and stressful
work environment, limited human and financial resources, and
special characteristics of the disease and infected patients are major
challenges for nurses in providing adequate, effective, efficient, and
timely care. Therefore, it is recommended to minimize MNC by
reviewing care policies and strategies in accordance with the current
critical situation, adopting management strategies such as providing
sufficient human resources and increasing nurses’ job satisfaction,
developing and using instruments for measuring MNC according to
the Iranian culture and context, strengthening quantitative research
according to qualitative studies conducted in Iran, and sensitizing
of nursing managers to adjust the MNC to increase the quality of
nursing care and patient safety. It should be noted that some factors
affecting MNCs are beyond the authority and control of nurses,
so it is necessary to develop committees consisting of all hospital
stakeholders to correct the factors affecting the missing nursing care.
Further studies on the types and factors affecting missed nursing
care and services in other countries will lead to the application
of healthcare providers’ experiences, including nurses, other health
workers on the front lines of dealing with COVID-19, patients
involved, and their families.
This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the
Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, with the
code: IR.BMSU.REC.1399.518 on 2 January 2020. The Declaration
of Helsinki, including obtaining written and oral consent from
all research participants to record their interviews and voluntary
participation in the study, was observed. Participants were ensured
of the data confidentiality and the right to withdraw from the study
at any stage. In addition, all methods were performed in accordance
with the relevant guidelines and regulations. A summary of the
factors related to missed nursing care was reported to the care quality
improvement committee of these three hospitals.
Author contributions
AS, MR, and SB: study design. FK and ME: data collection. AS
and RJ: data analysis. AS and SB: study supervision. AS, MR, SB, RJ,
HA, and ME: manuscript writing. SB, MR, AS, HA, and FK: critical
revisions for important intellectual content. All authors read and
approved the final manuscript.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the guidance and advice from
the Clinical Research Development Unit of Baqiyatallah Hospital,
Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
5.1. Limitations
Due to the qualitative nature of the study, the possibility that
participants in the study did not remember or did not tend to
express missed care and the factors shaping it was their fear of
reprimand and punishing managers, officials, and other stakeholders
due to the MCN report. Even though qualitative studies show the
participants’ in-depth experiences, they may suffer from the nongeneralizability of the results. Moreover, due to the current pandemic,
it was impossible to observe the care process and conduct focus
groups to generate data.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the
absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be
construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Publisher’s note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the
authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated
organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers.
Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may
be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the
publisher.
5.2. Future studies
It is suggested that future research examine the frequency of
MNC during this pandemic, as well as its possible consequences for
patients and nurses.
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