Deciding to work during the Ebola outbreak: The voices and experiences of nurses and midwives in Liberia

In this study we explored the experiences of nurses and midwives, including the process involved in deciding whether or not to render care to patients during the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, West Africa. Data were collected from 30 registered nurses and registered midwives through face-to-face, semi-structured, tape-recorded interviews. We combined both Corbin and Strauss (2015) and Charmaz (2014) grounded theory methods of data collection and analysis. The result is a description of the experiences and a conceptual model that describes the social process involved in the work decisions made by the study participants. The core category identified in the data is “living in fear and terror.” The work decisions of nurses and midwives were primarily influenced by family responsibilities and demands. The findings of this study could be applied to education, research, and working policies when planning for future disease outbreaks in Liberia and other regions in the world.