Relief experience of nurses in hard-hit disaster areas and their perception of psychological reconstruction after 10 years: a qualitative study

  Objective  To explore the psychological experience of nurses participating in the rescue of Wenchuan earthquake and their perception of reconstruction in the 10 years after the disaster.

  Methods  A qualitative research method was used to conduct a semi-structured interview with 24 nurses participating in the Wenchuan earthquake rescue. The interview content was recorded with a recorder and notes. The interview content was transcribed into words and analyzed by extracting meaningful units, condensing meaningful units, coding, classification, and extracting topics.

  Results  Three themes were obtained from the interview, including: (1) panic and fear when witnessing sudden disasters; (2) experienced the "darkness, helplessness and constant struggle" at the rescue site; and (3) looking back on the "self-improvement, optimism and living in the present" after 10 years of reconstruction.

  Conclusions  The rescue experience of nurses in the hardest hit areas was valuable. From witnessing the disaster to participating in the rescue, and then to 10 years of reconstruction, they experienced a relatively complex psychological experience process. We should pay more attention to the psychology of these nurses participating in rescue in the hardest hit areas, and also pay attention to the ethical problems they faced. We should actively build a good social support system for these nurses to maintain a good level of psychological resilience and mental health.