Feeling all alone in the world - experiences of patients with a neurological disease during a COVID-19 visitor ban: An interview study.
Mia Ingerslev Loft, Ingrid Poulsen, Rikke Guldager
PMID 35730124WHAT IT FOUND
Most neurological patients found the visitor ban painful and felt alone, losing motivation, appetite and comfort.
A few valued the quiet. Nurses mattered greatly for emotional support and helping phone or video contact with relatives.
Key findings
01Four themes described patients' experiences: torn between societal sacrifice and personal need, feeling alone, ways to overcome the ban, and the importance of compassionate nurses.
02Most patients were emotionally affected by the ban, describing distress, loneliness, reduced motivation, and less desire to eat, drink or exercise.
03Patients depended on nurses to facilitate phone or video contact with relatives, and some perceived nurses as too busy to ask for help.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study interviewed 14 patients from three neurological units in one Danish university hospital, so it cannot show how common these experiences are in other settings. It is a qualitative interview study, not a test of care, so it cannot show that visitor bans caused harm or that nurse help improved outcomes. Some patients had communication or cognitive difficulties, and their condition or distress may have affected what they could tell the researchers. No relatives or nurses were interviewed, so the study gives only the patients' view of the restrictions and staff support. The exact hospital rules, individual staff decisions and how often phones were confiscated were not fully described.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that visitor bans caused physical deterioration or that nurse compassion improved outcomes. It reports patients' experiences, not measured effects, and nurses' actions varied.