ประสบการณ์การบริหารจัดการในสถานการณ์การระบาดของโรค COVID-19 ของพยาบาลเวรตรวจการ โรงพยาบาลตติยภูมิในภาคใต้

Abstract

Health service management during the COVID-19 pandemic is a challenge for nurse supervisors who take responsibility for appropriate management of the off-hour services. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenology research was to study the management experiences and meaning given to these experiences of nurse supervisors at a tertiary hospital in southern Thailand during the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The informants were 26 registered nurses who worked in a tertiary hospital in the southern area and performed the nurse supervisor role during this pandemic situation. Data were collected through 21 in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions. Data analysis followed Colaizzi's method. The research trustworthiness was approved following Lincoln and Guba’s concept (1989). The study findings were: The nurse supervisors described their management experiences in three meanings: 1) working with a higher level of stress than usual, 2) solving immediate problems, and 3) learning from experiences and situations. The management experiences comprised six themes: 1) bed management to be able to admit as many patients as possible, 2) nursing workforce management to comply with the workload, 3) encouragement; to listen, solve, and encourage nurses, 4) management to prevent and control infection, 5) dealing with conflicts from working, and 6) accurate and timely reporting of data and information related to the pandemic situation. This study provides basic information for nursing administrators to plan preparational training programs for nurses who will be in-charge nurse supervisors, and for preparation of operational plans when facing the crisis situation within the context of tertiary hospitals similar to those in the southern area.