Management of a nursing unit in a COVID‐19 shelter hospital in China: A case study

Abstract

ObjectiveFangcang shelter hospital is a form of large temporary hospital developed in China to tackle public health events. Through the case study and analysis of managing a nursing unit in a huge Fangcang shelter hospital transformed from the National Exhibition and Convention Center during the Omicron wave in Shanghai, China between April 9, 2022 and May 24, 2022, this paper aimed to highlight critical implications of public health nurses in health emergencies.DesignA case study was conducted using data collected from a nursing unit with 570 beds. The five characteristics of management were organized as follows: human resource management, establishment and optimization of the core workflow, safety management of high‐risk patients, the grid cooperation mechanism with patient volunteers, as well as humanistic nursing.ResultsAnalysis of the data of the nursing unit indicated close team cooperation, efficient and orderly process scheduling, good outcomes of patients, and the indispensable role of volunteers.ConclusionPractice indicated that nursing unit management in a large Fangcang shelter hospital is important to ensure medical order and efficiency. This practical experience can provide valuable reference and data to support for the nursing management of large‐scale public health events, such as infectious disease epidemics.