Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 29, 2025
Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Peripheral Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Without Left Ventricular Venting
Published on: January 17, 2025
Healthcare Providers' Experiences of Caring for Patients With COVID-19 Requiring Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation
Lori Constantine1,2,3, Danielle DeCicco4, Roger D Carpenter2
1Division of Geriatric, Palliative Medicine and Hospice, Department of Medicine, West Virginia University Hospital, JW Ruby Memorial, Morgantown, WV, USA.
Background:
Coronavirus 19 (COVID-19) affected healthcare workers (HCW) in ways more than increasing the volume of patients needing care. Increased numbers of patients at younger ages required support with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Providing this care requires an interdisciplinary team.
Aim:
This study explored the experiences of HCW caring for patients with COVID-19 on ECMO.
Methods:
Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted via videoconferencing, and transcript comparison was used for the analysis.
Findings:
Open coding of the data generated 7 categories including (1) fearing the unknown, (2) confronting challenges in patient and/or family interactions, (3) encountering barriers to providing care, (4) facing moral distress, (5) working through exhaustion, (6) persevering by strengthening teamwork, (7) and acknowledging frustration with non-believers.
Discussion:
HCW balanced pessimism and optimism while caring for patient with COVID-19 on ECMO. They used negative experiences caring for these patients to strength teamwork and bonding among peers.
Conclusion:
The practice implications for caring for patients with COVID-19 on ECMO include viligance by clinician and organization to protect the wellbeing of healthcare providers, particularly in ICU and ECMO units were moral distress and burnout can be high.
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