Impact of COVID‐19 on acute isolation bed capacity and nursing workforce requirements: A retrospective review

Abstract

Aim To understand the impact of COVID‐19 on isolation bed capacity requirements, nursing workforce requirements and nurse:patient ratios. Background COVID‐19 created an increased demand for isolation beds and nursing workforce globally. Methods This was a retrospective review of bed capacity, bed occupancy and nursing workforce data from the isolation units of a tertiary hospital in Singapore from 23 January 2020 to 31 May 2020. R v4.0.1 and Tidyverse 1.3.0 library were used for data cleaning and plotly 4.9.2.1 library for data visualization. Results In January to March 2020, isolation bed capacity was low (=<203 beds). A sharp increase in bed capacity was seen from 195 to 487 beds during 25 March to 29 April 2020, after which it plateaued. Bed occupancy remained lower than bed capacity throughout January to May 2020. After 16 April 2020, we experienced a shortage of 1.1 to 70.2 nurses in isolation wards. Due to low occupancy rates, nurse:patient ratio remained acceptable (minimum nurse:patient ratio = 0.26). Conclusion COVID‐19 caused drastic changes in isolation bed capacity and nursing workforce requirements. Implications for Nursing Management Building a model to predict nursing workforce requirements during pandemic surges may be helpful for planning and adequate staffing.

Adverse events and preventive measures related to COVID-19 vaccines

“…38,39 Moreover, the inadequate bed capacity for isolation has also been an important issue, which increases the burden on the emergency medical system. 40 As mentioned earlier, the systemic adverse reactions that occur after COVID-19 vaccination are similar to those of infectious diseases including COVID-19. Therefore, with the current guidelines for determining the need for isolation based on symptoms, it is inevitable that patients who visit the ED with complaints of a systemic adverse reaction will also be isolated.…”

“…The need for patient isolation and the additional amount of time required to wear PPE have caused many difficulties not only for medical personnel but also for patients [ 38 , 39 ]. Moreover, the inadequate bed capacity for isolation has also been an important issue, which increases the burden on the emergency medical system [ 40 ]. As mentioned earlier, the systemic adverse reactions that occur after COVID-19 vaccination are similar to those of infectious diseases including COVID-19.…”

Nursing and midwifery workforce readiness during a global pandemic: A survey of the experience of one hospital group in the Republic of Ireland

“…Nurses are required to continually maintain their professional registration requirements, within an environment of uncertainty and fear. The degree of uncertainty related to COVID‐19 resulted in increased difficulty in planning to meet unknown patient nursing needs (Fan et al, 2021 ). Anecdotal evidence gleaned from members of the research team who hold appointments in the clinical environment, suggests the process for redeployment is met with resistance, enthusiasm, compassion, commitment, anxiety, and understanding from the entire nursing workforce.…”

“…Nurses are required to continually maintain their professional registration requirements, within an environment of uncertainty and fear. The degree of uncertainty related to COVID-19 resulted in increased difficulty in planning to meet unknown patient nursing needs (Fan et al, 2021).…”

Changes in Nurse Staffing Grades of Korean Hospitals during COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Healthcare facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes in the United States are already experiencing nursing shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 17 , 18 ]. Intensive care units (ICUs) and isolation wards in other countries also experience nursing shortages [ 19 , 20 ]. However, the nurse staffing level in general wards during this pandemic has not yet been investigated using empirical data at the national level in Korea.…”