Role model nursing leaders in COVID-19 crisis

Abstract

BackgroundApplying the principles and skills of management, including planning, organising and leadership skills, will greatly help to improve the quality of nursing manager duties. This is even more important during crisis management, such as the COVID-19 crisis. The objective of the present study was to express the experiences of nursing managers in the COVID-19 crisis.MethodsA qualitative conventional content analysis approach was used to discover the nursing leadership style in the COVID-19 crisis. The present study was conducted in one hospital in Tehran, Iran. 20 Iranian nursing managers in all nursing management positions such as head nurse, matron and supervisor were interviewed. Semi-structured interview was conducted at one hospital in Iran, using reflective and open-ended questions. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. The study was carried out in 2020 while data saturation occurred, no new categories or codes have emerged and the study questions were answered. Credibility and conformability were established through member checking. The report of the analysis was returned to the participants in order to get the assurance that the researchers had portrayed their real world in codes and extracted categories.ResultsFour main themes emerged from data analysis including ‘managers as role model’, ‘full responsiveness’, ‘being in constant challenge’ and ‘post disaster growth’.ConclusionNursing management is one of the activities that the manager must be constantly aware of the activities of his subset. This requires a constant presence in the workplace and communication with nursing staff. Also, in times of crisis, the manager, in addition to having scientific ability, must also have sufficient experience. These two factors will lead to crisis management. Also, training staff and managers in crisis management is one of the most important issues in nursing management.

The experience of moral distress by chief nurse officers during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A descriptive phenomenological study

“…The workload of nurse managers increased considerably, and they experienced high levels of anxiety during the pandemic (Middleton et al, 2021 ). Nurse managers had to manage the psychological responses of their employees as well (Bookey‐Bassett et al, 2020 ; Mollahadi et al, 2021 ). In the study, manager nurses spent more time in the field managing the anxiety and psychological reactions of employees, organizing daily or weekly staff schedules and attempting to listen to the problems of each of the nurses under their supervision.…”

“…Uncertainty and abrupt changes that have occurred during the pandemic have created some conditions specific to moral distress. Being responsible for the implementation of national regulations and requirements in the field as brought in by rapidly changing directives, CNOs had to make instant and important decisions (Mollahadi et al, 2021 ). CNOs have faced challenges in decision making, particularly in the resource allocation and workforce planning.…”

“…Nurses have not been included in pandemic scientific committees of Turkey where national regulations for health care services are developed (Senol Celik et al, 2021 ). Exclusion from the decision making that they could contribute with their knowledge and experience is among other sources of moral distress (Mollahadi et al, 2021 ; Whitehead et al, 2021 ). Although CNOs do not agree with the national regulations regarding nurses' wages and personal rights, they have felt to have to defend these regulations to resolve respective conflicts.…”

“…Study data revealed that CNOs received support from scientific sources during their efforts for coping with moral distress. It is known that the scientific competencies and communication skills of a nurse manager are important to cope with difficulties (Mollahadi et al, 2021 ). The importance of the effective communication skills of nurse managers was also pointed out in the study conducted by Lord et al ( 2021 ).…”

Exploring midwives' coping and functioning in the labour wards during the Covid‐19 pandemic from the Labour Ward Head Nurses' perspective: A qualitative study

“…The work environment changed from the usual routine, becoming chaotic (González‐Timonedaa et al, 2021 ). The Labour Ward Head Nurses needed to participate in problem solving and become role models in health care delivery during dangerous situations, while providing empathy and encouragement to their staff (Mollahadi et al, 2021 ).…”