From Trauma to Resilience: Nursing Parents' Seeking Balance in Hospital and Family Life in the COVID 19 Process

The main purpose of the project is to examine the work-life balance processes of nurse parents during the COVID-19 process and to develop policy recommendations for establishing this balance. In the first stage of the project, based on the mixed method, the search for balance in the COVID-19 process and the resilience processes of nurses were explored using quantitative/qualitative methods; In the second phase, it was aimed to develop policy recommendations based on these findings. In the quantitative part, the role of resilience on the work-life balance of nurses was tested with the structural model. It has been determined that there is a positive relationship between resilience and complementary balance, and a negative relationship between compromising balance. In the qualitative part, based on the case study, nurses' stories of establishing a work-life balance were examined with data obtained from individual interviews, family interviews and observations. The findings obtained as a result of the content analysis show that the most intense experience of nurses among risk factors is on social risk factors, followed by individual and familial risk factors. When the protective factors of nurses are considered, hope/optimism comes to the fore among individual protective factors, spousal support among familial protective factors, and colleague support among social protective factors. Finally, it was determined that the nurses most intensely established a balance based on compromise, followed by the complementary balance. Policy recommendations presented within the scope of the research; search for work-family balance, providing psychosocial support and personal rights are discussed under three headings. Some of the sub-recommendations included in these recommendations are as follows: The number of children of nurse parents, the ages of their children and their care needs should be determined. It should be evaluated whether the nurse parents have someone to take care of their children. Individual, family or group therapies should be organized in line with the identified needs of nurse parents. In addition, professional rewarding and motivation studies should be carried out to support nurse parents in their search for balance in work and family life. Due to the intense working hours of nurse parents and the difficulty in balancing work/family life, the number of health personnel should be increased and a rotating working system should be established. In addition, the workload of nurses should be reduced by increasing the number of nurses and other health personnel working in primary health care services.