Abstract
Background: New Zealand has experienced a chronic shortage of registered nurses. Aged residential care facilities were poorly equipped to cope with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nurses were temporarily redeployed from hospital settings to aged residential care facilities to maintain safe staffing levels.
Aim: This qualitative study explores the experiences of nurses who were redeployed to aged residential care facilities in New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims to provide recommendations to guide nursing workforce planning, especially during times of crisis, and contributes new strategies to attract nurses to work in aged residential care facilities. By exploring the on-the-ground experiences of nurses, the study also aims to inform redeployment policies and provide advice on the training and support required for nurses who experience redeployment to other areas of clinical practice. The research question was, What are the experiences of nurses who were redeployed to aged residential care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was undertaken in a New Zealand clinical setting in mid-2023. Data were collected via one-on-one semi-structured interviews with five nurses who had experienced redeployment to aged residential care facilities. Interview transcriptions were analysed with thematic analysis to identify patterns, themes and recommendations within the data.
Findings: Four themes emerged from the thematic analysis. The first theme, readiness for redeployment , explores the personal motivation and previous experiences that contributed to the participants success in a new environment. The second theme, role responsibility , describes the advanced role of aged care nurses, the impact of COVID-19 on redeployed nurses and aged care facilities, and the quality improvement initiatives that redeployed nurses participated in. The third theme, access to resources , highlights the orientation process, policies and procedures, and support available for redeployed nurses in aged residential care. The fourth theme, attracting nurses to aged residential care , discusses the working conditions experienced by the participants in aged care facilities, and the importance of exposure to aged care settings as student nurses.
Recommendations: Redeployed nurses should have access to ongoing training opportunities and emotional support within aged care facilities. Supportive work environments are characterised by effective leadership teams, open communication, collegial relationships between nurses, and adequate clinical resourcing. Pay parity funding for nurses in the aged care sector will contribute to improved rates of staff retention.