PONE-D-22-34212An Exploration of the Emotional Response among Nurses in Bermuda, during the Covid-19 PandemicPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Moore,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Fatma Refaat Ahmed, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Additional Editor Comments:

Abstract needs restructure to be more clear to the reader.

The study design is not clear

The study question should be more focused and specific. 

Qualitative data analysis should be provided.

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Partly

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: N/A

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: Respected Authors,

asafter warm greetings,

Kindly find the attached reviewed article for considereing the recommended changes for research paper quality improvement. there is required clarifications in the abstract and the methodology sections. the ethics approval is not clear in relation to the approving body as well as the validity of the interview qualitative questions is not clearly described . also, there is overlaping between two different research designs that need to be fixed.so working on the modifications will improve the quality of the papaer.

Regards,

Reviewer #2: Many thanks for your valuable work.

Summary of the Study

This was an explorative study that aims to explore the emotional responses of nurses who treat Covid-19 patients in Bermuda, with the objective of gaining a better understanding of their experience. They interviewed 9 nurses to get in-depth analysis and exploration of these emerging phenomena. They made also an extensive literature review about previous researches conducted during COVID-19 pandemic. Six themes were elicited and explored to shed the light on these phenomena at Bermuda. They found that there is an initial fear of virus that was overcomed by knowledge. Anxieties about the correct PPE and its availability; and lack of communication of a cohesive plan to frontline staff exacerbate stress responses. Additionally, emotional response of loneliness; feelings of isolation caused by stigma; and barriers to spending time with loved ones contribute to a dissatisfaction at an unfulfilling social and home life. Nurses found solace in support from their colleagues; both inside and outside of work, enjoying the support found in strong bonds between co-workers, with increased cooperation and emotional support. Participants were given succor in time spent with loved ones and knowing they are safe, whilst enjoying holistic activities, to soothe workplace borne stresses.

Strength Points

Study topic is interesting for the international reader; it is about very important phenomena that whole world was encountered and still complaining from its outcomes. The whole article is perfectly written. I feel easy to understand their work, the article was very consistent with itself. Finally, the study has a good implication for the clinical practice, education, and research.

Weak Points

None

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Reviewer #1: Yes: Dr. Sally Mohammed Farghaly

Reviewer #2: No

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: PONE-D-22-34212.pdf

Attachment

Submitted filename: PONE-D-22-34212.pdf

PONE-D-22-34212R1An Exploration of the Emotional Response among Nurses in Bermuda, during the Covid-19 PandemicPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Moore,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

Please submit your revised manuscript by Apr 20 2023 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:

• A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
• A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.
• An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter.

If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols. Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols.

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Fatma Refaat Ahmed, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

[NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.]

While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/. PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org. Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step.

An Exploration of the Emotional Response among Nurses in Bermuda, during the Covid-19 Pandemic

PONE-D-22-34212R2

Dear Dr. Moore,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Fatma Refaat Ahmed, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #3: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #4: (No Response)

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #3: Yes

Reviewer #4: Yes

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #3: N/A

Reviewer #4: N/A

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4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #3: Yes

Reviewer #4: Yes

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #3: Yes

Reviewer #4: Yes

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #3: This is an excellent manuscript. Authors have responded It has a technically sound piece of scientific research with information that supports the conclusions.

I recommend to accept this manuscript for publication.

Reviewer #4: Great and informative Work!!!

Generally:

I request the author to read through one more time and pick interest in spacing some words that are combined.

Specifically:

1. Kindly request the author to correct the typographical error in the abstract under methodology, second sentence referring to subjects, the author wrote "suhjects"

2. Under introduction, second sentence, author is requested to used the past tense i.e. "The WHO states that as of ... there were ..."

3. Let the author review the chart/graph numbering Vs reference within the body e.g. graph 1 in the body is labelled as 1.2.1

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #3: Yes: Muhammad Arsyad Subu

Reviewer #4: Yes: Allan G. Nsubuga

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