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August 14, 2026COVIDOpen Access

Staff Experiences Working During COVID-19 Outbreaks in Long-Term Care in Northern Settings: A Qualitative Study

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Authors

RSRachel SmidEREmma RossnagelDBDavina Banner

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Overview

Qualitative study reveals severe moral distress, staffing shortages, and community resilience among northern long-term care staff during COVID-19, highlighting the need for rural-specific support.

Key Points

  • Investigate the specific challenges, emotional impacts, and coping mechanisms of long-term care facility staff working during COVID-19 outbreaks in rural and northern communities.
  • Conducted a secondary thematic analysis of semi-structured interview transcripts from long-term care staff with outbreak experience (N=16).
  • Evaluated qualitative themes regarding working conditions, organizational support, emotional strain, and protective resources in northern settings.
  • Identified seven central themes: personal fear and moral distress, coping with resident deaths, relationship dynamics, increased workload amid staffing shortages, resource constraints and support gaps, supportive resources, and the impact of vaccinations.
  • Found that pre-existing shortages in rural and northern long-term care facilities amplified the operational and psychological strain of outbreaks, while strong community solidarity helped staff cope.

Cite This Study

Smid et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a7ec735b70b84ec8b9136achttps://doi.org/10.3390/covid6080147
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Also Consider

Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context:

  1. 1Staff Resiliency in Long-Term Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study2024 · 2 citations
  2. 2We did our Best!: The Experience of Frontline Workers in Long-Term Care during COVID-19 Outbreaks2024
  3. 3Ongoing and emerging issues for residential long-term care in the context of Covid-192024
  4. 4“You’re not just there to do a job”: a qualitative examination of Canadian long-term care worker strengths2026
  5. 5Challenges and Possibilities in Preventing Emerging Infectious Diseases in Long‐Term Care: A Qualitative Descriptive Study2025