Clinical Nurses' View of Staffing During the Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic presented staffing challenges in providing care during the surge of critically ill patients. This qualitative descriptive study was conducted to obtain an understanding of clinical nurses' perspective of staffing in units during the first wave of the pandemic. Eighteen focus groups were conducted with registered nurses who worked on intensive care, telemetry, or medical-surgical units at 9 acute care hospitals. The focus group transcripts were thematically analyzed to identify codes and themes. The overarching theme was staffing, a bit of a mess, which sums up the general perception of nurses during the initial phase of the pandemic. The following additional themes underscore the overarching theme: challenging physical work environment; supplementing the frontline: buddies, helpers, runners, agency, and travel nurses; nurses do everything; getting through as a team; and emotional toll. Nurse leaders can utilize these findings to guide staffing decisions today and in the future, such as ensuring nurses are oriented to their deployed unit, keeping team members together when reassigned, and striving for consistency with staffing. Learning from the experience of clinical nurses who worked during this unprecedented time will assist in improving nurse and patient outcomes.

Unveiling the Exodus of Nurses in Somalia: Exploring the Reasons for Nurse Attrition and the Implications for the Healthcare System

“…The results suggest that individuals embarking on a nursing career are often motivated by a profound sense of compassion, driving them to positively impact people during their most vulnerable moments, while also holding expectations of equitable remuneration, societal recognition, moral ful llment, job role exibility, opportunities for professional growth, and the importance of leisure time. This research aligns with similar studies conducted in various nations [11][12][13][14][15] .…”