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

Abstract

Aim To explore the mobilization of nurses/midwives in a designated hospital group in Ireland during a global pandemic. Background The recent global pandemic has resulted in the large‐scale worldwide mobilization of registered nurses and midwives working in the acute care sector. There is a dearth of literature reporting the mobilization of this professional workforce. Method Mixed‐methods design using an electronic survey and facilitated discussion across one Irish hospital group. Results Eight of 11 hospitals responded to the survey. There was a 2% vacancy rate prior to the pandemic. Mobilization included reconfiguration of clinical areas and redeployment of 9% of the nursing/midwifery workforce within 2 weeks of the pandemic. A total of 11% ( n = 343) of nurses/midwives were redeployed in 3 months. Nurses/midwives required re‐skilling in infection prevention control, enhancement of critical care skills and documentation. Conclusions Three key areas were identified to enable the nursing workforce readiness. These are referred to as the three ‘R's’: Reconfiguration of specific resources, Redeployment of nurses to dedicated specialist areas and Re‐skilling of nurses to safely care for the patients during the pandemic. Implications for Nursing Management A centralized approach to reconfiguration of clinical areas. Redeployment is enabled by closing non‐essential departments. Hands‐on re‐skilling and reorientating staff are essential.

The perceived effects of COVID‐19 while living with a chronic illness

“…Chronic illness healthcare services are delivered primarily by specialist nurses. Mobilization of nurses throughout the pandemic relied heavily on the redeployment of specialist nurses (Ryder et al, 2022). It is reasonable, therefore, to expect that their redeployment would result in a negative impact on chronic illness services.…”

Evaluation of the impact of redeployment during the COVID-19 pandemic: results from a multi-centre survey

“…In recognition of the Government guidance, Health Education England provided extensive online training through their learning portal and to facilitate easy access, they waivered the requirement to register and login. Whether these fulfilled nurses training needs are unclear, however the content reflects the educational priorities identified in a study undertaken by directors of nursing in Ireland: infection protection control, critical care skills and upskilling acute care nursing (Ryder et al, 2021). This suggests training needs for nurses were a global concern not just for those in the United Kingdom.…”

Readiness of nurses working in COVID-19 pandemic

“…A total of nine articles were obtained from the various databases reviewed and the interventions performed in primary, secondary, or tertiary care settings from different countries. One study was conducted in Spain (García-Martín et al, 2021), One study from Egypt (El-Monshed et al, 2021), One study from Ireland (Ryder et al, 2022), Two studies from Indonesia (Intening et al, 2021;Tamsuri, 2021), One study from Saudi Arabia (Mubarak Al Baalharith & Mary Pappiya, 2021), One study from Taiwan (Chen et al, 2021), One study from Malaysia (Chua et al, 2021), and One study from Bangladesh (Gazi & Akhi, 2020).…”

“…Internal factors that can affect nurses who work during the COVID-19 pandemic are fear, worry, and stress (Chen et al, 2021;García-Martín et al, 2021), Feeling Ready (El-Monshed et al, 2021, Achievements, Interests (Tamsuri, 2021), Physical Condition, Mental (Intening et al, 2021;Tamsuri, 2021), Knowledge about COVID-19 (Gazi & Akhi, 2020;Mubarak Al Baalharith & Mary Pappiya, 2021), Attitude (Gazi & Akhi, 2020), and Commitment to work (Chen et al, 2021). Meanwhile, external factors that affect the readiness of nurses to work during the COVID-19 pandemic are organizational problems, support for treating patients, especially COVID-19 patients (García-Martín et al, 2021), Official information from the government side, the nature of the virus (El-Monshed et al, 2021), Documented contingency plan, collaborative decision making, ward design (Ryder et al, 2022), Nurse clinical skills (Chen et al, 2021;Ryder et al, 2022), PPE readiness and PPE standards (Intening et al, 2021;Mubarak Al Baalharith & Mary Pappiya, 2021).…”

“…The majority of nurses (81.6%) were aware of the nature of the virus, 83.6% agreed that their job put them at risk for COVID-19 infection and 72% felt personally prepared for the pandemic. (Ryder et al, 2022), Ireland…”