Nurse manager responsibilities to address the delineated influences on the experiences of healthcare professionals during COVID-19: A qualitative systematic review nurse managers’ role during COVID-19

With this qualitative research synthesis, we aim to interpret qualitative research findings across multiple studies worldwide to delineate the influences on the mental health of healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic and deduce the impact on managerial responsibilities. At the hospital level, managers focused on establishing designated COVID-19 wards, ensuring sufficient nurses to replace those who became ill and training staff on patient management issues, but neglected the mental well-being of staff. A systematic process was followed to search for qualitative studies that answered the research question of what influenced healthcare professionals' experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic. Data were charted literatim from the selected articles. Collaborative content coding occurred iteratively through several coding levels. The unfamiliarity of the disease, deployment, personal protective equipment (PPE), patients, emotions and psychological reactions, and self-care interventions influenced the front-line workers' experiences of the pandemic. In most instances, the nurse managers did not address the experiences comprehensively. It is clear from the findings that many negative influences on healthcare professionals' experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic contributed to mental distress, which may have long-term effects on the healthcare workforce. Local-level nurse managers could reduce the magnitude of the negative influences on healthcare professionals.