Objective The objective of this study was to explore nurses' experiences and perceptions at selected United States (U.S.) healthcare sites during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Background The COVID‐19 pandemic brought rapid changes to the healthcare community. While a few studies have examined the early pandemic experiences of nurses in China and Europe, nurses' experiences across the United States have remained relatively underexplored. Design A qualitative study design was used. Methods Using a constructivist grounded theory methodology and methods, we conducted eight focus groups across four hospital sites in the eastern, midwestern and western United States. Registered nurses with a minimum of six months' experience working in all clinical specialties were eligible. Forty‐three nurses participated. Data were analysed iteratively using the constant comparative method. The COREQ guidelines supported the work and reporting of this study. Results The nurses experiencing a pandemic (NEXPIC) grounded theory emerged positing associations between four interrelated themes: Challenges, Feelings, Coping and Ethics. Nurses reported Challenges associated with changes in the work environment, community and themselves. They expressed more negative than positive feelings. Nurses coped using self‐care techniques, and teamwork within the healthcare organisation. Moral dilemmas, moral uncertainty, moral distress, moral injury and moral outrage were ethical issues associated with nurses' Challenges during the pandemic. Moral courage was associated with positive Coping. Conclusions Awareness of frontline nurses' complex and interrelated needs may help healthcare organisations protect their human resources. This new theory provides preliminary theoretical support for future research and interventions to address the needs of frontline nurses. Relevance to clinical practice Nurses face added distress as frontline at‐risk caregivers. Interventions to promote nurses' ability to cope with personal and professional challenges from the pandemic and address ethical issues are needed to protect the nursing workforce. This study offers a new substantive theory that may be used to underpin future interventions.

This study describes the incidence of workplace bullying among perioperative RNs, surgical technologists, and unlicensed perioperative personnel in two academic medical centers. The study sought to determine whether the demographic variables of gender, ethnicity, hospital, years of experience on the unit, years in the profession, and job title predict the experience of workplace bullying; whether a relationship exists between workplace bullying and emotional exhaustion; and whether bullying is associated with perceptions of patient safety in the OR. The cross-sectional design included perioperative nurses, surgical technologists, and unlicensed perioperative personnel (N = 167). Fifty-nine percent of the study participants reported witnessing coworker bullying weekly, and 34% reported at least two bullying acts weekly. Having one's opinion ignored is the most common bullying act, with 28% of respondents experiencing being ignored. Differences in the experience of bullying can be found between hospitals and among ethnicities. Emotional exhaustion also was correlated with bullying. The participants did not perceive bullying as affecting patient safety.

A growing body of research on workplace bullying which addresses the detrimental consequences of bullying in nursing has emerged. This quasi-experimental pilot study was aimed at examining the effect of an educational program provided to nursing staff on workplace bullying. The development of an educational program and use of a registered nurse educator in a group setting is an effective method for addressing workplace bullying.

Although this group of Medicaid patients with severe and persistent mental illness had access to providers, they received an unacceptably low level of preventive care. Use of health services for general medical problems differed somewhat by primary psychiatric illness.