The experience of infectious patients in isolation

Patients with infections are sometimes nursed in side rooms or isolation units. Little is known of how this experience of being isolated is perceived from either the patient's or the nurse's viewpoint. In this research eight patients and nurses were interviewed to explore their perceptions. Analysis indicated a wide range of response, with some patients valuing the privacy, solitude and control that the situation provided. However, expressions of neglect and isolation were common, and some patients perceived themselves to be stigmatised and lonely. Nurses described their patient's responses fairly accurately, but their ability to alter practice to meet the needs of these patients appeared constrained by time, the physical environment, fear of infection and the limitations of defining nursing interventions primarily in terms of physical care.