Indonesian hospital’s preparedness for handling COVID-19 in the early onset of an outbreak: A qualitative study of nurse managers

Abstract

BackgroundHospitals must be well-prepared to respond to pandemics. Hospital preparedness is critical to ensure optimal health service functioning and care delivery to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. Nurse managers play critical roles and provide expert advice on hospital preparedness models, to facilitate the delivery of safe and effective care, within the pandemic context. AimTo explore nurse managers' perspectives of hospital preparedness to handle the COVID-19 pandemic in its early phase. DesignDescriptive qualitative study. MethodsNurse managers were recruited from two public hospitals designated for handling COVID-19, in East Java of Indonesia, using purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted via phone and video conference. Data were analysed using the content analysis. ResultsA total of nine nurse managers participated and were included in analyses. Three main categories were identified. These were (1) operational policy, (2) infrastructure arrangement, and (3) healthcare personnel management. ConclusionsThe Indonesian healthcare system has made responsive adjustments to handle COVID-19 by increasing the flexibility and adaptability of institutional physical structures, services, and human resources on the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.