Reminder of study aims
Our study aimed to understand whether nurses were affected by having to work outside of their normal role, in unfamiliar settings and with unfamiliar teams during Covid-19 pandemic.
What you told us:
Our staff advisory group (made up of nurses) told us what the working conditions during the pandemic were like, and how sensitive this subject may be to nurses involved in the research.
What we did next:
Because of this we approached this topic of research sensitively with nurses and provided additional mental health and well-being support where necessary. Additionally, we altered our expectations towards the ‘norms’ of working in the NHS so they more accurately aligned with the actual working conditions during the pandemic.
Final or key finding:
We found that working outside of their normal role, in unfamiliar settings and with unfamiliar teams during the Covid-19 pandemic did indeed have a huge impact on nurses, nursing teams and managers who were responsible for moving the nurses to work outside of the usual role. It negatively impacted those working outside of their usual role, as they often felt undervalued, a lack of control in the process and unsupported when working in an unfamiliar role. There were, however, some instances where working outside of their usual role had a positive impact on those involved, which resulted in nurses flourishing in their new role, developing skills and professional relationships, job opportunities and career progression opportunities.
What does this mean:
We need improve the process of moving nurses to work outside of their usual role so more experience the positive consequence and less experience the negative consequences.