The journey of nurse managers in the nursing workforce management during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

In these chaotic, stressful, and uncertain times, nurse managers, who constantly receive new information about the disease and its prevention, work hard to make correct decisions while leading the nursing team. Managers must be ready to face the impact of the pandemic on nurses. The study answered the question; What are your experiences managing the hospital workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic? The study utilizes a phenomenological interpretative design approach in exploring the experiences of the nurse manager in the nursing workforce amid the pandemic. Participants were five currently working as a nurse manager who provided consent for an in-depth interview. The data was gathered through unstructured interviews. The researcher used a combination of snowball and convenient sampling to recruit the participants. Findings suggest that the study participants had developed resiliency in managing the nursing workforce. They find their experience during the pandemic with the following emerging themes: Looking back: the devastating events of the Covid 19 pertain to chaotic events of the pandemic, Managing the hospital resources and staffing, whereas they strategize to solve the shortcomings of the hospital because of understaffing and limited PPE for the staff nurses; Overcoming the challenges during COVID 19 strategic planning on massive hiring of nurses and proper training of level four PPE for Covid nurses; Psychological intervention among staff nurses during COVID 19 pandemic; Causes of the mental breakdown of the staff nurses and lastly mentoring the new generation nurse. A nurse manager requires a lot of strategizing in the allocation of resources, and the adaptability of every leader in the flow of a dire situation. The researcher recommends to the future researcher explore possible research designs of Grounded theory to develop a concept/theory of the journey of the nurse manager in managing the nursing workforce.