As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues, frontline nurses caring for COVID-19 patients are experiencing severe fatigue and mental stress. This study explored nurses' adaptation process in caring for COVID-19 patients and examined how nurses interact with the phenomenon using a grounded theory approach. The study aimed to develop a substantive theory and provide basic data with which to develop intervention programs that can support nurses caring for COVID-19 patients. Data were collected between 7 August and 31 October 2020, via face-to-face in-depth interviews with 23 nurses who had been caring for COVID-19 patients for six months or more at a nationally designated COVID-19 hospital. Sampling was started purposively and continued theoretically. Data analysis, performed using the method proposed by Strauss and Corbin, resulted in 13 main categories, the core one being "growing as a proficient nurse alongside comrades on the COVID-19 frontline". The study's results identify the nurses' adaptation process in caring for COVID-19 patients and their reactions to the circumstances around it. Ensuring that nurses can systematically cope with emerging infectious diseases requires regularly providing them with basic education on caring for patients with such diseases and strengthening professional education in order to develop nurses specializing in them. This study also recommends that a support system for work and childrearing be developed.
Keywords: COVID-19; disease outbreak; nurse; qualitative research.