Abstract

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has provoked several changes in home care. Understanding home care nurses' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic plays an essential role in home care management. Objective This study aimed to explore and articulate the experience of home care nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. Design A qualitative study using hermeneutic phenomenology was carried out. Twenty home care nurses were interviewed by teleconference between January and March 2021. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using qualitative data analysis software. Results Three main themes with five subthemes emerged from the data analysis: (a) "The effect of COVID-19 pandemic on home care,"with the subtheme "the reorganization of home care nurses' competencies"; (b) "The role of telehealth in home care,"which included the subthemes "home care nurses' satisfaction with telehealth"and "barriers to implement telehealth in home care"; and (c) "Effects of the pandemic on home care nurses' lives,"including the subthemes "working in a pandemic is emotionally draining"and "the continuing fear of infecting others."Discussion The findings from this study demonstrate the profound effect that home care has experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Home care nurses' competencies were modified to care for and diagnose COVID-19 patients. Face-to-face home care was replaced by telehealth. All home care nurses experienced physical and psychological symptoms and the fear of infecting others.