ORIGINAL ARTICLE The Journal of Nursing Research ▪ VOL. 31, NO.
3, JUNE 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/jnr.0000000000000554
“Suddenly Feeling Dark”: A Qualitative Study
on the Experiences of Nurses Facing Coworker
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Death During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Petrus Kanisius SIGA TAGE* • Herliana Monika AZI DJOGO
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Maria Yoanita BINA
ABSTRACT
Background: The coworkers of nurses who died because of
COVID-19 infection generally experience a highly emotional
grieving process. Nurses grieving the loss of a coworker during
the COVID-19 pandemic experience higher psychological
stress because of their high workload and the grueling shifts re-
quired to manage health emergencies during the pandemic and
cope with long-standing staffing shortages. The limited number
of studies discussing this issue has resulted in insufficient evi-
dence necessary to develop effective counseling strategies
and psychological support for nurses in Indonesia dealing with
the massive waves of COVID-19 cases.
Purpose: This study was designed to elucidate the experiences
of nurses across four provinces in Indonesia who had experi-
enced the loss of a colleague during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: A qualitative research design and phenomenological
approach were used in this study. Sampling was done in Ja-
karta, Bali, East Java, and East Nusa Tenggara using purposive
sampling for the first eight participants and snowball sampling
for the subsequent 34 participants. Semistructured, in-depth in-
terviews were used to collect data from 30 participants using
appropriate ethical principles. Data saturation was achieved af-
ter interviewing 23 participants, and their data were analyzed
using thematic analysis.
Results: Three main themes related to nurses' responses to
the death of a colleague, distinguished into several stages,
were identified. Stages in the first theme were as follows: (a)
shocked to hear of colleague's death, (b) self-blame for failing
to save a life, and (c) afraid to experience the same situation.
Stages in the second theme were as follows: (a) make efforts
to avoid the same thing from happening again, (b) develop strat-
egies to avoid thoughts of loss, and (c) expect to have a psycho-
logical support system. Stages in the third theme were as fol-
lows: (a) seek new reasons, goals, directions, and meanings in
life and (b) improve the physical and social health of individuals.
Conclusions/Implications for Practice: The range of responses
from nurses to the death of a colleague during the COVID-19
pandemic identified in this study may be referenced by service
providers to better provide psychological assistance and sup-
port to nursing staff. In addition, the coping strategies described
by the participants provide detailed information that healthcare
providers may use to deal with nurses facing death more
• Yulia M. K. LETOR
•
comprehensively. This study emphasizes the importance of de-
veloping strategies to help nurses cope positively with their
grief from a holistic perspective, which may be expected to im-
pact positively the performance of nurses.
KEY WORDS:
COVID-19, death, grief, nurse, qualitative research.
Introduction
Nurses have important roles and responsibilities during the
COVID-19 pandemic and continue to be at the forefront of
patient care and of interacting with patients infected with
COVID-19 (Schroeder et al., 2020). Thus, nurses face a high
risk of COVID-19 infection (Fernandez et al., 2020). One re-
port identified that 38.6% (59,014) of the 152,888 health-
care workers infected with COVID-19 in 2020 worldwide
were nurses (Bandyopadhyay et al., 2020). The consequence
of a severe COVID-19 infection is death. According to the In-
ternational Council of Nurses, in January 2021, the number
of nurse deaths globally because of confirmed infection exceeded
2,710 cases (International Council of Nurses, 2021) and, in
Indonesia, up to 339 nurses have already died because of
COVID-19 (Databoks.katadata.co.id, 2021).
The death of a nurse is known to trigger a grieving process
with a strong emotional response among their coworkers (Kostka
et al., 2021). Mughal et al. (2022) explained that grieving is
an outward expression of grief influenced by cultural and re-
ligious customs around death and the process of adapting to
life after loss. Although grieving is a normal human response
that should not be considered a psychiatric disorder, the World
Health Organization's (2020) International Classification of
Diseases, 11th Revision classifies the problem of grieving with
MSN, RN, Lecturer, Health Sciences Faculty, Department of Nursing,
University Citra Bangsa, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.
Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health,
Inc.
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons
Attribution License 4.0 (CCBY), which permits unrestricted use, distri-
bution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
1
 The Journal of Nursing Research
long and persistent grief as a psychiatric problem that can in-
crease the risk of various stress-related disorders, heart problems,
addiction behaviors, immune system dysfunction, impaired qual-
ity of life, and suicidal ideation. COVID-19-related deaths repre-
sent a “perfect storm” triggering prolonged loss-related sadness.
Nurses in the process of grieving have expressed increases in
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emotional, moral, and secondary traumatic stresses at work
(Omran & Browning Callis, 2021). A concept analysis has
defined the process of grieving in nurses as feelings aimed
at the healthy resolution of loss and grief accepted through de-
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nial, anger, disorganization, reorganization, and depression
(Brunelli, 2005).
For many nurses, coworkers are a “second family” with
which they may share their important moments, solve prob-
lems, and celebrate successes (Laskowski-Jones, 2019). Studies
show that coworkers can provide support to improve the qual-
ity of care, the handling of stressful situations in nursing, and
job satisfaction (Khatatbeh et al., 2021). Yin and Zeng (2020)
explained that coworkers helped satisfy the psychological need
of nurses for interpersonal relationships during the pandemic.
Nurses grieving the loss of a coworker during the COVID-19
pandemic experience significantly increased psychological
stress because of their concurrently high workload and gru-
eling shift schedule burdens (M. M. Zhang et al., 2021). In-
creased psychological pressures accelerate burnout and turn-
over in nurses (Mirzaei et al., 2021) and exacerbate the already
severe nursing shortage (Turale & Nantsupawat, 2021). De-
spite the many reports of nurses dying from COVID-19, few
studies in the literature have addressed the impact of these
deaths on nursing coworkers, resulting in a lack of information
necessary to develop counseling and psychological support
strategies for nurses who are continuing to handle the massive
wave of COVID-19 cases.
Aim
This study was designed to elucidate the experiences of nurses
in Indonesia facing the loss of a colleague who died during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
Study Design
A phenomenological study design was used to explore the
concept/phenomenon underlying the awareness of participants
regarding the loss of a colleague during the COVID-19 pan-
demic. Phenomenological studies are conducted in realistic sit-
uations to minimize the limits to interpreting or understanding
the phenomenon under study, allowing researchers to freely an-
alyze the data obtained (Wojnar & Swanson, 2007).
Participants and Setting
The participants were 42 nurses spread across four provinces
in Indonesia, including DKI Jakarta, Bali, East Java, and East
Nusa Tenggara. The inclusion criteria included nurses who
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Petrus Kanisius SIGA TAGE et al.
had lost a coworker in the same workspace, had known that co-
worker for more than 3 years, had worked in the COVID-19 iso-
lation ward, were willing to share their experiences, and scored
> 25 on the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG). An ICG score
greater than 25 correlates with the presence of significant impair-
ments in social, general, mental, and physical health functioning
and loss-associated bodily pain (Prigerson et al., 1995). Individ-
uals with multiple bereavement problems are generally the most
informed individuals. Exclusion criteria included nurses who
had communication problems during the interview, nurses
who refused to be interviewed because of emotional instability,
and nurses infected with COVID-19. A demographic datasheet
was used to collect information on gender, marital status, years
of service, religion, and culture.
In this study, 12 nurses were excluded from the interview
process because of communication problems during the in-
terview process, being infected with COVID-19, and not
meeting the specified inclusion criteria. Data saturation was
reached with the 23rd participant. The first eight participants
were recruited using purposive sampling to increase maxi-
mum variation, with the remaining 34 participants recruited
by snowball sampling. The recruitment process for partici-
pants was performed in each province via a national nurse
organization network, and initial contacts were made with
participants through care unit managers.
Data Collection
In this study, interviews were conducted via the online Zoom
remote conferencing application using a semistructured ap-
proach between December 2020 and August 2021. Four of
the researchers had received formal training in qualitative re-
search. Two of the authors served as interviewers and ex-
plained to each participant the purpose of the study and rel-
evant details such as the interview method used and the need
for voice recordings. All of the collected information was
kept confidential. Before the interview, the researcher con-
ducted an ICG questionnaire with the participant to identify
their level of sadness. Each interview lasted 90 minutes and
was conducted in Indonesian. Each participant participated
in the interview process twice to ensure the truthfulness of
the information provided. The interview guide included ques-
tions addressing the following: (a) feelings and experiences af-
ter losing a coworker, (b) opinions regarding support needed,
(c) coping strategies used to deal with the grieving process,
and (d) future expectations. The researcher adjusted the phras-
ing and sequence of questions based on the circumstances in
each interview session. The researcher made every effort to
maximize dialogue and maintain an empathic understanding
of the participants' symptoms and feelings. During the inter-
view, observational notes on participants' affective responses
(e.g., laughter, tears, sadness, impatience) and sensitive words
were recorded to provide contextual information for subse-
quent analysis work. After being interviewed, all of the partici-
pants were provided psychological counseling by the third au-
thor (who is a certified professional counselor).
 Nurses Facing the Death of a Coworker
Data Analysis
Following Braun and Clarke (2006), thematic analysis was
used to accurately capture the grieving experience of each
participant. The analysis process begins with the researcher
familiarizing themself with the data by listening to each inter-
view tape before transcription. Four researchers heard the re-
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corded content once after the interview session to understand
the participants' statements. Next, two researchers copied
and translated the interview data into English and then pro-
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vided comments. Each data item useful in answering the re-
search question was then coded.
Subsequently, coded data were analyzed, with different
codes combined according to an ordinary meaning to form
themes and subthemes. Two of the researchers reviewed the
relationships between the data items and codes that informed
each theme and subtheme to form a coherent, logical pattern
and contributed to the overall narrative of the data. Two other
researchers assessed how well the themes interpreted the data
in terms of the research question. After the candidate themes
were determined, the themes were named based on a detailed
analysis of the thematic framework. Each theme provides a
coherent and internally consistent data report that does not
overlap with the other themes. The four authors established
the themes reported in the final data analysis phase. The
themes were connected logically and meaningfully to build
a convincing data narrative.
Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness in this study was ensured following the steps
of Denzin and Lincoln (2017), including credibility, transfer-
ability, dependability, and confirmability. Credibility was
achieved by conducting two interviews with the participants
to explore their experiences in detail and by engaging for
extended periods with participants to ensure that partici-
pants fit with the purpose of this study and that the data ob-
tained addressed the research objectives. Credibility was also
achieved by allowing participants to share experiences with-
out providing other opinions and by recording participant
expressions in field notes to facilitate the data coding process.
The improvement of data transferability was achieved by using
sampling methods and qualitative research designs, using re-
search problem background information from previously pub-
lished research, clearly defining the demographic data charac-
teristics of participants, and identifying 42 participants with
sufficient conditions for qualitative research. Thus, dependabil-
ity was achieved, a clear and targeted detailed research protocol
was drafted, and the four researchers rechecked the accuracy of
the data during the data analysis process. Confirmability was
implemented by triangulating investigator data. This process
included engaging several researchers in the interview process;
keeping a diary related to research developments that deter-
mined the topics, methodologies, data analysis, results inter-
pretation, and conclusions; and conducting regular research
team meetings to discuss interpretations, codes, and themes.
VOL. 31, NO. 3, June 2023
Furthermore, decision making at each research stage was
documented for tracking and follow-up actions.
Ethical Considerations
Ethical approval was obtained from the Citra Bangsa University
Committee, Kupang, Indonesia (reference number: LB 02.03/1/
0049/2021). Permission from the hospital director was received
before data collection. All of the prospective participants were
given a research information sheet regarding the purpose of the
study, the role of the researcher, data confidentiality protocols,
the right to withdraw, and the length of the interview. Written
consent was obtained from each participant before interviews
were conducted. Permission was obtained directly from the
nurses involved in the study.
Result
Thirty participants who had lost their coworkers volunteered
to participate in this research interview. Data saturation was
reached at the 23rd participant. The 23 participants consisted
of 12 men and 11 women. Most were from Jakarta and East
Java, with eight participants each. The average age of the par-
ticipants was 37–41 years, 11 were married, ICG scores
ranged between 25 and 36, most held a 3-year diploma as
their highest level of education, and 11 of the participants
were Muslim. The themes identified in this study, which de-
scribe the stages of dealing with grief because of the loss of a
coworker, are shown in Table 1.
Theme 1: Responses in the First Stage
Shocked to hear of colleague's death
Shock and rejection were common reactions of participants to
hearing about the death of a coworker. Denial does not mean de-
nying that a loss has occurred (although this may be the case) but
Table 1
Themes and Subthemes
Theme Subtheme
1. Responses in the Shocked to hear of colleague's death
first stage Self-blame for failing to save a life
Afraid to experience the same
situation
2. Responses in the Make efforts to avoid the same thing
second stage from happening again
Develop strategies to avoid thoughts
of loss
Expect to have a psychological
support system
3. Responses in the Seek new reasons, goals, directions,
third stage and meanings in life
Improve the physical and social
health of individuals
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 The Journal of Nursing Research
rather involves denying the experience of all feelings. In addition,
when nurses experienced the COVID-19-related loss of co-
workers during the initial pandemic wave in March 2020 and
May 2021, they were often unprepared because of the low level
of awareness and psychological support received. They expressed
regularly feeling nervous and confused, being sweaty, and
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experiencing an increased heart rate. Moreover, colleagues
who died were immediately cared for by them.
When my companion died, I fainted, and my vision suddenly
darkened. It went too fast, and I didn't expect it. (Nurse 23)
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As he was dying during the chest compression process, it
tugged at my heartstrings. I'm worried that the compression
action I'm doing is too slow or I'm doing it wrong. When the
rescue failed, my hands were still shaking. (Nurse 13)
Self-blame for failing to save a life
The participants “self-stigmatized,” self-perceiving themselves
as “losers,” “unfaithful people,” “unlucky,” and “bitter” for
failing to save the lives of their comrades.
The person closest to my life has left me; I don't want to
live in the world. I was the one who failed to help him when
he needed me. (Nurse 6)
I feel unlucky, and I'm not a good friend. I thought I did
not have the face to meet my best friend after death. (Nurse 18)
Afraid to experience the same situation
The COVID-19-related death of coworkers made nurses feel
anxious and afraid that they may also experience a similar
fate. The expressions of fear conveyed by the nurses relate
to a traditional Indonesian belief that people who have died
will haunt those still living.
I am a single parent and have a small child at home who
needs my attention; I am worried that if I get infected with
COVID-19 and die like my colleague, there will be no one
to take care of my child. (Nurse 2)
My colleague who died was my best friend since child-
hood. We were not married and lived together in a rented
house when he died. I was afraid and had to flee to my
brother's house, but he is still always present in my dreams
to this day. (Nurse 14)
Theme 2: Responses in the Second Stage
Make efforts to avoid the same thing from
happening again
The participants reported feeling sorry for the death of their co-
worker and making concerted efforts to prevent the same thing
from happening to others. They focused on their work and
treated every patient with COVID-19 with the utmost care. In
addition, some of the participants repeatedly reminisced about
the death of their colleague and their mistakes and worked to
improve their efforts to prevent deaths from COVID-19.
The most important thing is to keep working and not make
mistakes. We must have a clean conscience when dealing with
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Petrus Kanisius SIGA TAGE et al.
COVID-19 patients, especially when dealing with death and
comforting bereaved family members. We must do it whole-
heartedly. If we have a clear conscience, our sorrow is re-
duced. (Nurse 1)
Every time I go home, I reflect on my day's work. For exam-
ple, after some patients died from asphyxiation, I thought about
whether there were errors in the treatment procedure. (Nurse 22)
Develop strategies to avoid thoughts of loss
One participant tried to suppress their emotions in the face of
the death of a coworker and only vented negative feelings af-
ter the process was complete. The participants also revealed
that turning to religious beliefs helped them rationalize the
loss and life after death.
I did some sports, learned to dance, and cared for cats. I
get flooded every day. Staying busy allows me to forget my
dead co-workers. (Nurse 4)
If I feel broken, I pray to release it, and I believe good peo-
ple will live in peace in heaven. (Nurse 17)
Expect to have a psychological support system
Nurses face great psychological stress when dealing with the
death of coworkers and desperately need the understanding
and support of those closest to them. After witnessing death,
nurses feel physically and mentally exhausted and need
emotional help.
Sometimes I tell my family about my best friend's death,
and they say I'm pessimistic and I don't like hearing it. I want
them to empathize with me. (Nurse 19)
Usually, I comfort patients and their families by being
more open-minded and optimistic. However, when I am de-
pressed, there is no one to comfort me. I am forced to let the
feeling fade with time. (Nurse 13)
Theme 3: Responses in the Third Stage
Seek new reasons, goals, directions, and meanings
in life
Resetting life goals refers to rearranging one's life based on
the wishes of a deceased friend, the wishes of others, or per-
sonal expectations. In other words, the participants sought
out new reasons, purposes, directions, and meanings in life.
They also expressed that they valued their deceased colleagues
as showing the way to a new life path through continued
bonding with material means and spiritual connections.
I thought about what my best friend said when he was
alive about continuing my education. Now I am preparing
for it (continuing education). (Nurse 11)
We once intended to do charity in an orphanage. Now, I
do charity. This is also a way to fulfill my best friend's wish.
(Nurse 4)
Improve the physical and social health of individuals
Improving health refers to the maintenance and improve-
ment of physical and social health. The participants sought
 Nurses Facing the Death of a Coworker
to improve physical fitness or reduce illness, especially to
avoid problems with their coworkers.
I bought some traditional medicine to drink to boost my
immunity (Nurse 8)
I have hypertension. I have a blood pressure meter. I take
my blood pressure every day (Nurse 16)
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Discussion
The participants displayed eight subthemes in three stages to
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deal with the death of a coworker during the COVID-19
pandemic. The emotional expressions in the first stage in-
cluded (a) being shocked to hear of colleague's death, (b)
blaming oneself for failing to save a life, and (c) being afraid
to experience the same situation. The actions in the second
stage included (a) making efforts to avoid the same thing from
happening again, (b) developing strategies to avoid thoughts
of loss, and (c) expecting to have a psychological support sys-
tem. The changes in the third stage included (a) seeking new
reasons, goals, directions, and meanings in life and (b) im-
proving the physical and social health of individuals.
The participants showed strong emotional expressions af-
ter the death of their coworkers. Studies show that death is a
universal human experience and a very dynamic and painful
event. When a loved one dies, one is left to grieve for the loss
(Morrissey & Higgins, 2021). The various emotional re-
sponses related to death found in this study, including ner-
vousness and confusion, shock and denial, deep sadness,
self-blame, anxiety, and fear, are in line with a previous study
on nurse responses to patient deaths by Khalaf et al. (2018),
who found nurse reactions to loss to include sadness, crying,
angry, shock, denial, and feelings of guilt.
Although nurses are expected to offer information, guid-
ance, and emotional support to patients and their families be-
fore and after death, losing a loved one has a profound effect
on their own emotional status that is difficult to control
(Makwana, 2019). Nurses experience the loss of life and wit-
ness the pain and suffering of the dying and the sorrow for
the bereaved. For nurses, especially in environments such as
emergency departments and intensive care units where the fo-
cus is on preserving life, death can represent failure and thus
be a source of stress (Jackson et al., 2020).
Deaths among nurses naturally heighten feelings of tragic
loss for those left behind. Of all human experiences, death is
the most painful and far-reaching emotional adaptation chal-
lenge for families. Failure to manage feelings of grieving can re-
sult in an increase in complicated grief, also known as persistent
complex bereavement disorder. This is a phenomenon charac-
terized by long-term and severe painful emotions that cause
an individual to face difficulties in recovering from their loss
and continuing everyday life as normal (Duffy & Wild, 2017).
When experiencing emotional stress, nurses try to pursue
coping strategies such as working hard and conscientiously,
venting their emotions, reflecting and improving the quality
of work, accepting the loss, and implementing self-control.
Coping developed by nurses may be seen as an effort to reduce
VOL. 31, NO. 3, June 2023
the adverse effects of emotional problems. However, unhelpful
coping strategies can exacerbate emotional distress (Smith &
Ehlers, 2023). Thus, nurses must learn to accept their loss
and implement self-control. Schnell and Krampe (2020) found
that self-control can suppress one's emotions.
Nurses express a diversity of emotions in response to
loss-related sadness that allow them to focus on improving
the quality of work and working more carefully. The findings
in this study align with M. Zhang et al. (2021), who examined
nurses' coping strategies during the home isolation period for
COVID-19 pandemic in China. All of the interviewees in that
study stated that negative emotions could be effectively elimi-
nated by shifting attention toward interests. They preferred to
focus on their work and chose to do leisure activities.
Nurses must adopt effective coping strategies that reflect
the conditions experienced when dealing with emotional stress.
Because no coping strategy is definitively good or bad, coping
will be effective only when it suits the individual character. Ap-
propriate coping strategies can reduce or buffer the harmful ef-
fects of emotional problems (Liang et al., 2020).
The course of the coping process necessarily reflects the
personal resource and social support situation of each individual
(Babicka-Wirkus et al., 2021). In this study, the participants re-
quired adequate psychological support from their families and
organizations to improve their ability to cope with the death of
a coworker. The absence of support can increase perceived stress.
Previous studies have shown that support from families, or-
ganizations, and supervisors received by nurses can effec-
tively reduce their perceived stress (Y. Zhang et al., 2020).
Organizations must provide training to increase knowledge
of relevant coping strategies among nurses, especially those
who have experienced the loss of a coworker during the pan-
demic. Studies have shown that nurses with a better understand-
ing of coping strategies are better able to control their emotional
stress (Wazqar et al., 2017). Effective coping strategies and sup-
port provided to nurses can encourage nurses to extricate them-
selves from their problems and start a new way of life.
Another theme revealed in this study is that the loss of a
coworker led participants to rethink and change their own
course in life. The participants in this study chose to honor
their deceased colleagues, reset their life goals, and enhance
their own health. In this phase, nurses enter a period of ac-
ceptance and understand that life can and will go on (Oates
& Maani-Fogelman, 2021). In this stage, life habits may be
rearranged. While listening to their own needs and develop-
ing forward, nurses have not forgotten their departed com-
rade, as the bereavement phase can persist for multiple years
(Mughal et al., 2022). Previous studies have shown that the
process of adjusting to the loss of a loved one often involves
conducting activities such as celebrating birthdays, praying,
and trying to live a healthier life (Entilli et al., 2021).
Limitations
This qualitative research has limitations that must be acknowl-
edged. First, this study focused on a small sample of nurses. To
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 The Journal of Nursing Research
generalize the findings and help improve the grief problems
experienced by nurses in general, future studies should use
qualitative and quantitative methods on much larger and
more-representative samples. In addition, interviews should
be conducted face-to-face for optimal communication of mean-
ings. Finally, some of the findings of the participants may have
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been influenced by the Indonesian cultural context. Thus,
further studies should be conducted in other country and so-
cial settings to examine similarities and differences.
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Conclusions
The experience of nurses facing the death of a coworker in this
study included several stages of responses. First-stage responses
included (a) shocked to hear of colleague's death, (b) self-blame
for failing to save a life, and (c) afraid to experience the same sit-
uation; second-stage responses included (a) make efforts to
avoid the same thing from happening again, (b) develop strate-
gies to avoid thoughts of loss, and (c) expect to have a psycholog-
ical support system; and third-stage responses included (a) seek
new reasons, goals, directions, and meanings in life and (b)
improve the physical and social health of individuals. The
insights gained from this study may be used to inform clin-
ical practice and provide evidence for establishing effective
approaches to providing psychological support to nurses
experiencing coworker loss, especially those in the first-stage
response period.
Implications for Practice
Grief is the most common symptom experienced by nurses
who have lost a coworker during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, little research and attention have been paid
to this sad and devastating situation in clinical practice.
The findings from this study have important implications
for healthcare providers wanting to develop targeted inter-
ventions to assist nurses to deal with coworker loss. The
various coping strategies described by participants in this
study provide sufficient detail for healthcare providers to
deal with grieving nurses more comprehensively. The find-
ings of this study suggest that healthcare providers should
adopt plans that are in harmony with the beliefs and needs
of their nurses and that these plans are particularly impor-
tant now, as the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic and
COVID-19-related nurse deaths has not disappeared. Al-
though some of the strategies used by the participants were
specific to the situation of nurses, most were applicable
beyond the narrow scope of nursing. Therefore, these strat-
egies may be considered and adopted by healthcare pro-
viders to improve the quality of services provided to nurses
and, ultimately, to support the ability of nurses to provide
quality care to patients.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the participants for sharing their experi-
ences and hospital staff for their assistance with recruitment.
6
Petrus Kanisius SIGA TAGE et al.
Author Contributions
Study conception and design: All authors
Data collection: PKST, HMAD
Data analysis and interpretation: All authors
Drafting of the article: PKST, YMKL
Critical revision of the article: HMAD, MYB, PKST
Received: December 8, 2021; Accepted: June 15, 2022
*Address correspondence to: Petrus Kanisius SIGA TAGE, MSN, RN,
Kayu Putih, Oebobo, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara 85111, Indonesia.
Tel: +62 0380 8553961; E-mail: petruskanisiussigatage@ucb.ac.id
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Cite this article as:
Siga Tage, P. K., Azi Djogo, H. M., Letor, Y. M. K., & Bina, M. Y. (2023).
“Suddenly feeling dark”: A qualitative study on the experiences of
nurses facing coworker death during the COVID-19 pandemic. The
Journal of Nursing Research, 31(3), Article e273. https://doi.org/
10.1097/jnr.0000000000000554
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