<p>This study examines the experiences, challenges, and psychosocial effects of healthcare professionals working in the disaster area following the Kahramanmaraş earthquake. Using a descriptive phenomenological design, this qualitative study involved in-depth interviews with 24 healthcare workers who served in the earthquake zone. Data were collected through semi-structured online interviews and analyzed using Colaizzi’s seven-step method with MAXQDA-20.0 software. Five themes emerged: earthquake experience, the effect of taking part in an earthquake, challenges, coping strategies, and needs of healthcare workers. Participants reported physical and emotional reactions such as fear, helplessness, and exposure to traumatic events. They described experiencing secondary traumatic stress alongside professional meaning-making and post-traumatic growth. Ethical dilemmas, inadequate training, organizational deficiencies, and heavy workloads were identified as major challenges. Participants reported using emotion-focused, body-focused, and religious coping strategies as well as professional support. Healthcare workers also emphasized the need for improved disaster coordination, targeted training, risk reduction strategies, and psychosocial recovery support. These findings highlight the complex psychological and organizational challenges faced by healthcare workers in disaster settings and underscore the importance of strengthening disaster preparedness, institutional support systems, and psychosocial interventions to enhance resilience in future disasters.</p>