Nursing care during COVID-19 at non-COVID-19 hospital units: A qualitative study
Lone Jørgensen, Birgith Pedersen, Birgitte Lerbæk, Helle Haslund‐Thomsen, Charlotte Brun Thorup, M. Albrechtsen, Sara Jacobsen, Marie Germund Nielsen, Kathrine Hoffmann Kusk, Britt Laugesen, Siri Lygum Voldbjerg, Mette Grønkjær, Karin Bundgaard
Abstract
The maintenance of physical distance, the absence of relatives and the relocation of registered nurses to COVID-19 units presumably affects nursing care at non-COVID-19 units. Using a qualitative design, this study explored registered nurses' experiences of how COVID-19 influenced nursing care in non-COVID-19 units at a Danish university hospital during the first wave of the virus. The study is reported using the COREQ checklist. The analysis offered two findings: (1) the challenge of an increased workload for registered nurses remaining in non-COVID-19 units and (2) the difficulty of navigating the contradictory needs for both closeness to and distance from patients. The study concluded that several factors challenged nursing care in non-COVID-19 units during the COVID-19 pandemic. These may have decreased the amount of contact between patients and registered nurses, which may have contributed to a task-oriented approach to nursing care, leading to missed nursing care.