"Their tenacity to just keep going": Nurses' experiences in medical hotel quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

To explore how nurses and nursing knowledge contributed to the success of an Australian nurse-led medical hotel quarantine facility during the COVID-19 pandemic. The facility was established to accommodate returning travellers who were COVID-19 positive or at risk of becoming positive, to travellers requiring complex care and expanded to community members who could not quarantine at home. This descriptive qualitative study explored how nurses and nursing knowledge in the quarantine facility contributed to the low transmission incidence of COVID-19 infection. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted via ZOOM from February to May 2022 with all levels of nursing staff (nurse managers to assistants in nursing) who had worked in the facility for 3 months or more. The nurses were asked to describe their experiences, the challenges they faced and how they overcame them. The data were rich and were analysed using Braun and Clarke's six-step thematic analysis. Four broad themes were generated demonstrating how nurses played a pivotal role in the success of the facility. First: nursing knowledge was evident through the development of policies, which minimized risks to nurses and patients. Second: a community of learning was developed as nurses supported upskilling and capacity building of staff, particularly new graduates with the facility. Third: a supportive management structure promoted teamwork and a positive workplace culture. And finally: the nurses were encouraged to develop techniques that promoted self-care which enabled them to develop resilience. This was a nurse-led service that developed strategies to manage care delivery and overcame unanticipated difficulties in a unique clinical setting. The quality of the research design was ensured by using the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Studies (COREQ) checklist. No patient or public contribution.