Healthcare Readiness and Primary Care Nursing Using the Theory of Bureaucratic Caring: Turning Never Into Now

Abstract

The global COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 challenged primary care nursing as never before. Attention focused mainly on care within the inpatient realm, and guidance for these areas was predicated on existing plans for contingency response. In the primary care realm, few clinics plan for or practice readiness responses; thus patients and staff faced a daunting mission of ensuring continuation of services using nontraditional platforms. This article describes bureaucratic caring theory guidance for readiness activities, basic planning, and resources required for primary care clinics in contingency and crisis responses.