Background: Nurse managers play an important role in coordinating the multidisciplinary teamwork, which is specifically important in emergency and crises situations like the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this qualitative study is twofold: (1) to explore the experiences of the Intensive care units (ICU) nurse managers regarding their work during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) to analyse what implications might be provided based on experiences of nurse managers for future possible epidemiological crises.
Methods: In-depth phone interviews were conducted to explore the experiences of ward managers-nurses (n = 15) working in different hospitals across Poland. Interviews were taped and transcribed verbatim, and then qualitatively analysed.
Results: Three main categories were identified: (1) Challenge of working with the unknown, (2) Nurse managers' expectations, and (3) Methods of coping and received support. The COVID-19 pandemic strongly affected the work of ICU nurse managers and uncovered the malfunctioning of the healthcare system.
Conclusion: It is important to improve the knowledge and competence of hospital management personnel through exercises and in-service training on how to handle emergencies in order to improve the management of healthcare facilities, increase the safety of patients and employees, and the quality of healthcare.
Copyright: © 2023 Dobrowolska et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.