ArticleBMC nursing2026
Post-traumatic growth following the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative phenomenological study of Iranian ICU nurses.
Article in BMC nursing, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, intensive care unit (ICU) nurses faced severe psychological, ethical, and physical challenges. Although many studies have focused on the negative consequences of this crisis, there is scant evidence regarding the positive dimensions of nurses' experience and Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG), especially in spirituality-centered and collectivist cultural contexts like Iran. This study aimed to explore the experiences of PTG among Iranian ICU nurses in the final stages of the pandemic.
methodsThis qualitative study employed a descriptive phenomenological approach and Colaizzi's 7-step method. Ten ICU nurses from two hospitals in Northeast Iran were purposefully selected. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews between September 2022 and March 2023. Upon reaching saturation, the data were manually analyzed based on the Colaizzi steps.
resultsData analysis led to the extraction of five main themes and sixteen sub-themes. The main themes included: (1) Spirituality, (2) Resilience, (3) Cognitive Reconstruction, (4) Transformation of Social Role, and (5) Sustainable Healthy Lifestyle. These themes illustrate the experience of PTG across multiple dimensions, including spiritual, individual, professional, and social transformations among nurses following exposure to the crisis.
conclusionsNurses were able to transform the suffering and pressures of the COVID-19 period into opportunities for strengthening spirituality, personal growth, and professional development. Culture-centric factors such as spirituality, collective solidarity, and ethical commitment played a significant role in shaping PTG. These findings emphasize the necessity of reinforcing spiritual care, psycho-social support, and transformative learning-based education in nursing programs to enhance preparedness for future crises. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.