- Title
- Australian nurses’ satisfaction and experiences of redeployment during COVID-19: A cross-sectional study
- Creator
- Chu, Ginger; Connelly, Kristy; Mexon, Alex; Briton, Ben; Tait, Julie; Pitt, Victoria; Inder, Kerry J.
- Relation
- Australian Journal of Advance Nursing Vol. 40, Issue 3, p. 20-27
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.37464/2023.403.1047
- Publisher
- Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2023
- Description
- Objective: To evaluate nurses’ satisfaction and experiences of redeployment during COVID-19. Background: Redeployment to an unfamiliar environment can be challenging; however, it can also present an opportunity for staff to learn new skills. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to redeploy health professionals, particularly nurses, increased dramatically. Evaluating nurses’ satisfaction and experiences related to redeployment during the pandemic is essential for future surge planning. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey consisting of single-choice and open-ended questions was conducted on a purposive sample of nurses (n=106) working in an acute hospital in New South Wales, Australia, from July to August 2020. Nurses who were redeployed to wards different from their regular workplaces were invited to participate in the survey. Areas of redeployment include various medical and surgical wards, intensive care units and the emergency department. Nurses’ satisfaction was obtained through the survey question structured as a Likert scale ranging from very satisfied to very dissatisfied. Nurse experiences were captured through a single-choice question (positive or negative experience) and open-ended questions. The single-choice questions were analysed by summarising participant responses, and open-ended questions were analysed using an iterative thematic analysis approach. Results: A high proportion of nurses were either neutral (48.4%, n=45) or dissatisfied (44.1%, n=41) with redeployment, with only 7.5% (n=7) of nurses being satisfied. There was a mix of positive (43%, n=40) and negative (57%, n=53) redeployment experiences. Three main themes influence nurses’ redeployment experience: “staff friendly and welcoming”, “patient allocation”, and “support”. Conclusion: Redeployment of healthcare workers during a pandemic is inevitable. This study highlighted that despite close to half of the redeployed nurses reporting a positive redeployment experience, only a few were satisfied with redeployment. This indicated that more work is required to support nurses during redeployment to increase satisfaction. Future workforce redeployment needs to consider healthcare workers’ needs and must strive to improve satisfaction to build a sustainable and resilient health system. Implications for research, policy, and practice: This study highlighted that although redeployment is challenging, staff can have a positive redeployment experience when supported. Elements that are associated with positive redeployment experience were explored in this study, which can inform policy and prepare nurses for future surge demand.
- Subject
- COVID-19; nursing; redeployment; deployment; pandemic; SDG 3; SDG 17; Sustainable Development Goals
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1491741
- Identifier
- uon:53206
- Identifier
- ISSN:0813-0531
- Language
- eng
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