In recent months, several papers were published on the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects. A literature review conducted in Pubmed revealed that 425 papers containing the MeSH terms “COVID-19” and “nursing” have been published since January 1, 2020. Most of these articles place a focus on the care of patients in specific hospital settings. Only six articles focused the nursing home setting, and only two of these articles address the situation of staff offering direct nursing home care. Therefore, few studies – and especially qualitative studies – have been carried out to explore the situation in nursing home settings during the pandemic. Such studies would enrich the scientific community and clinical decision makers and provide detailed insights.

We conducted a qualitative descriptive interview study with 18 participants to obtain an in-depth understanding of the burdens placed on staff working in a nursing home during the pandemic as well as the consequences of the situation. Nursing home staff considered the qualitative work load and work organisation as major concerns during this pandemic. The main aspects that were described with regard to the qualitative work load were the additional tasks that needed to be performed during the pandemic to care for the residents, because the interventions placed the residents under stress and dealing with the relatives presented significant challenges. Nursing home staff reported experiencing psychological consequences, such as uncertainty, fear and stress, as major effects of the COVID-19 situation.

Articles & presentations.

March 2022 – Paper published in The Journal of Advanced Nursing:

COVID-19 pandemic: Burdens on and consequences for nursing home staff

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35285060/