A Qualitative Study: What Are the Psychosocial Experiences of the Turkish Doctors During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Year 2022, , 21 - 33, 31.07.2022

Safiye Neslihan Ercan , İlayda Ulaş

https://doi.org/10.52675/jhesp.1098041

Abstract

          The present qualitative and exploratory study aimed to determine the ideas, feelings, behaviors, and changes in the working and family lives of actively working Turkish doctors during the Covid-19 pandemic. The researchers tried to understand the social and work-related problems of the doctors. Therefore, this study may be considered as a starting point for future studies. 

            The participants (61 doctors) filled out a questionnaire that consisted of demographic information and 17 open-ended questions. 49.3 % of them were actively working in specialized pandemics hospitals. In the present qualitative research, non-numerical data were collected to understand the psychosocial experiences of the doctors, and their most crucial quotations were categorized and reported, - as it is essential to report the quotations and the narratives in the descriptive analyses of the qualitative research. The researchers’ aim was to gather in-depth insights into their experiences and then generate new ideas for future quantitative research. The researchers used two of the nonprobability sampling types, i.e., snowball sampling and convenience sampling because of the difficulty of the accessibility to the doctors as participants.

           The doctors associated the COVID-19 pandemic with some concepts such as “anxiety” and “stress”. All the doctors argued that there would be a lot of psychological problems at the end of the pandemic. Some of the doctors believed that there would be no change after the end of the pandemic, because they thought everything would be forgotten. Some others believed that people

would learn from their experiences, and they had a quasi-hopeful future perspective for humanity.

            They predicted an increase in individualism and social isolation and a number of online platforms. The reasons for these and other findings were discussed and explained.

Keywords

Covid-19, Pandemic, Qualitative Research, Psychological Effects, Turkish Doctors

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