Nurses’ Experiences of Working During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Views on Physical and Mental Wellbeing

Domingos, Patience

Nurses’ Experiences of Working During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Views on Physical and Mental Wellbeing

Domingos, Patience (2026) Nurses’ Experiences of Working During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Views on Physical and Mental Wellbeing. Doctoral thesis, Birmingham City University.

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Abstract

Nurses within the United Kingdom National Health Service faced persistent and heightened challenges throughout and after the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbating existing workforce shortages and organizational strain. A sizeable portion of the current literature conceptualises wellbeing from the perspective of resilience, frequently attributing responsibility to individual capability rather than to the structural and ethical conditions of practice. This study examines nurses' lived experiences during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, reframing physical and mental well-being through the analytical perspective of endurance.

This Constructivist Grounded Theory research was conducted within a large NHS Trust in the West Midlands, United Kingdom. Data were collected from seventeen participants via eleven face-to-face semi-structured interviews and two focus groups comprising nurses from Bands 5 to 8. Recruitment, data gathering, and analysis were conducted iteratively through initial and focused coding, constant comparison, and continuous memo writing, underpinned by ongoing reflexivity in my capacity as a practitioner-researcher.

Four interrelated analytical categories were identified: Physical and Emotional Suppression and Delayed Processing; Physical and Psychological Trauma and Aftershocks; Organizational Dissonance and Fragmentation; and Moral Suffering and Ethical Erosion. These coalesced in the principal category of Institutional Betrayal and Organizational Abandonment. Two distinct analytic groupings emerged from the data: Surface Endurers and Fractured Endurers, which differentiate how nurses maintained professional functioning or encountered breakdown under extended organizational stress.

This study presents five principal theory-derived contributions. Conceptually, it positions endurance as a structural and moral process shaping nurses physical and mental wellbeing within ethically strained healthcare systems. Empirically, it captures the prolonged aftermath of COVID-19 on everyday professional life. Methodologically, it demonstrates a transparent and reflexive application of Constructivist Grounded Theory. Applied and in policy terms, it informs leadership, occupational health, and workforce governance by identifying organizational conditions that sustain, strain, or fracture professional endurance over time.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Dates:	Date Event 22 June 2026 Accepted
Uncontrolled Keywords:	COVID-19, nurses, physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing, Organizational Endurance, Constructivist Grounded Theory, healthcare workforce, occupational health, NHS, Institutional Betrayal, Organizational Abandonment, Endurance Framework, pandemic preparedness, workplace wellbeing, workforce wellbeing, occupational wellbeing, occupational health, staff wellbeing, moral distress, moral injury, workforce retention, burnout, resilience, organizational support, qualitative research, health services research, coronavirus pandemic, nursing, psychological wellbeing, Endurance Gauge, Endurance Index, PARC Index, endurance, post pandemic recovery, workforce sustainability, healthcare organizations, organizational culture, health policy, staff support, nursing practice, nurse wellbeing, emotional wellbeing, nurses’ experiences, nursing workforce, lived experiences, health and wellbeing, employee wellbeing, workplace health, nursing workforce wellbeing, healthcare workers, workplace support
Subjects:	CAH02 - subjects allied to medicine > CAH02-04 - nursing and midwifery > CAH02-04-01 - nursing (non-specific) CAH02 - subjects allied to medicine > CAH02-04 - nursing and midwifery > CAH02-04-07 - mental health nursing CAH02 - subjects allied to medicine > CAH02-04 - nursing and midwifery > CAH02-04-09 - others in nursing
Divisions:	Doctoral Research College > Doctoral Theses Collection Nursing and Midwifery
Depositing User:	Louise Muldowney
Date Deposited:	20 Jul 2026 15:03
Last Modified:	20 Jul 2026 15:03
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/17119