ABSTRACT
What creates distances between people is different depending on societies, places, the time and the roles of people involved. In COVID-19 times, the possibilities are that what created distances in the past can change in the present and the future. Caring for older people in protective gear with face masks can both create challenges and opportunities for healthcare professionals, depending on their professional values and attitudes. It is of interest to explore how COVID-19 influenced various kinds of distancing in communication linked to different ages, ethnicities, roles and values. When COVID-19 infection occurred in a nursing home (NH) in a rural town in Iceland, it entailed challenges because of shortages of healthcare professionals. Volunteers, including a few nurses, were transported to the area from other parts of the country. Their experiences and thoughts, with supporting views from one older person and the relatives of two others, were captured in qualitative research with semi-structured interviews which included open questions. The findings describe how nurses and older people experienced physical, social and cultural distance, and distance in the nurse-patient relationship during COVID-19 in the rural Westfjords in Iceland.
