Experiences of redeployment by haemodialysis nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: a hermeneutic phenomenological approach

Abstract

Background Redeployment of healthcare workers is one of the strategies that has been successfully used to manage increased workload and shortage of staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about how best to do this in the pandemic and beyond. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of haemodialysis nurses who were redeployed across five haemodialysis units affiliated with a large metropolitan teaching hospital in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design Qualitative design utilizing a hermeneutic (interpretive) phenomenology approach. Methods: Interviews were conducted in March 2022 among nurses who had been redeployed to other haemodialysis units during the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 16). Audiotaped interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed independently by two researchers following specific steps of hermeneutic phenomenological analysis. Results Five themes were derived from the analyses. These were: (1) Nurses’ immediate reaction; (2) Barriers to redeployment; (3) Benefits of redeployment; (4) Local and organisational support and (5) Opportunities for improvement. Conclusions Redeployment of nurses across different haemodialysis units is associated with personal and organisational benefits and number of barriers that need to be addressed. Future studies should explore the long-term effects of redeployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic on haemodialysis nurses and other healthcare workers.