Language
English
Publication Date
4-9-2024
Journal
BMC Health Services Research
DOI
10.1186/s12913-024-10935-y
PMID
38594669
PMCID
PMC11005178
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
4-9-2024
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on healthcare services globally. In care settings such as small rural nursing homes and homes care services leaders were forced to confront, and adapt to, both new and ongoing challenges to protect their employees and patients and maintain their organization's operation. The aim of this study was to assess how healthcare leaders, working in rural primary healthcare services, led nursing homes and homecare services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the study sought to explore how adaptations to changes and challenges induced by the pandemic were handled by leaders in rural nursing homes and homecare services.
Methods: The study employed a qualitative explorative design with individual interviews. Nine leaders at different levels, working in small, rural nursing homes and homecare services in western Norway were included.
Results: Three main themes emerged from the thematic analysis: "Navigating the role of a leader during the pandemic," "The aftermath - management of COVID-19 in rural primary healthcare services", and "The benefits and drawbacks of being small and rural during the pandemic."
Conclusions: Leaders in rural nursing homes and homecare services handled a multitude of immediate challenges and used a variety of adaptive strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. While handling their own uncertainty and rapidly changing roles, they also coped with organizational challenges and adopted strategies to maintain good working conditions for their employees, as well as maintain sound healthcare management. The study results establish the intricate nature of resilient leadership, encompassing individual resilience, personality, governance, resource availability, and the capability to adjust to organizational and employee requirements, and how the rural context may affect these aspects.
Keywords
Humans, Pandemics, COVID-19, Nursing Homes, Qualitative Research, Delivery of Health Care, COVID-19, Leader, Leadership, Nursing home, Home care, Resilience in healthcare, Patient safety, Quality of care
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
Glette, Malin Knutsen; Kringeland, Tone; Samal, Lipika; et al., "A Qualitative Study of Leaders’ Experiences of Handling Challenges and Changes Induced by the COVID-19 Pandemic in Rural Nursing Homes and Homecare Services" (2024). Faculty, Staff and Students Publications. 8445.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/baylor_docs/8445