Interprofessional Ambulatory Staff Perceptions of Pandemic Preparedness

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic forced us to face the growing realization that our expectations of staff redeployed to areas other than their usual role did not fully align with their perceptions of safety, competence, and teamwork. This mixed-methods study assessed perceptions of role, preparedness, and management among staff who were deployed from March through June 2020. Our findings support that the rapid reassignment of interprofessional role groups to respiratory illness clinics in the first wave, albeit necessary at the time, may not be the best response in future infectious disease outbreaks.