Nurses’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: A secondary data analysis examining interdisciplinary and peer communication

Background

Communication with interdisciplinary team members was impacted during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bedside nurses managed communication challenges with interdisciplinary team members while working under extremely stressful conditions created by a new and unknown infectious disease. This study examined data collected from a pre-existing qualitative study to answer the question: What communication challenges occurred among nurses and interdisciplinary team members during the beginning months of the COVID-19 pandemic?

Methods

A qualitative secondary analysis of an existing dataset was undertaken. The original data were collected using semi-structured interviews conducted with a purposive sample of bedside nurses (n = 17).

Results

Using thematic analysis, five themes related to communication among nurses and the interdisciplinary team emerged: 1) acknowledging PPE as a communication barrier, 2) questioning how to perform nursing tasks along with increasing workload, 3) developing innovative ways to deliver safe care, 4) experiencing frustrations about lack of communication with interdisciplinary team members, and 5) experiencing both support and criticism that affect working relationships.

Conclusions

Challenges associated with communication during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic became opportunities to build policies and procedures to support collaboration within the healthcare team. Support is necessary to prepare team members to collaborate efficiently during crisis situations. Developing a strategic plan to improve communication, lessen nurse burden, provide mental health support for nurses, while maintaining safe care are priorities in managing future emergency situations.