Lived experience of nurses caring for critically ill patients sustained by healthcare technologies in Benin-City, Nigeria

A critically ill patient is someone who has a chance of recovery, if properly managed, but is usually in a life-threatening condition, associated with a high mortality rate, with significant financial impact on households, and associated with the cost of medical care. To explore the lived experiences of nurses caring for persons with critical illnesses sustained with healthcare technologies. A hermeneutic phenomenological design was utilized. Data were collected through in-depth individual interviews with sample size of ten participants, observations, and field notes. Data were analyzed using Paul Ricoeur's Theory of Interpretation and Nvivo software for data management. The results revealed that the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a complex unit, and Nurses are occupied with fear and worries associated with having to operate various health gadgets. They also experienced challenges in how to balance their attention between technology-based care and seeing patients as human beings. Based on the outcomes of this study, it was suggested that ICU nurses require continual retraining in operating various health technologies without fear or worry. They must also improve their ability to be inclusive in their profession; balancing their focus between technology-based care and handling patients as human beings. The implication of this on practice is that ICU is a difficult learning environment for new nurses because of the numerous skills that must be learned quickly. Developing supportive social relationships was crucial for new ICU nurses to learn and adjust to this challenging clinical environment.