TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring the experiences of nurses working in the outdoor COVID-19 testing clinics
T2 - a qualitative descriptive study
AU - Drayton, Nicola
AU - Boothroyd, Christopher
AU - Luck, Lauretta
PY - 2025/2
Y1 - 2025/2
N2 - Aim: To understand the experiences of nurses working in outdoor COVID-19 testing clinics. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to significant changes in the practices of nurses across healthcare settings. This challenge meant responding to working in completely new environments, such as the COVID-19 testing clinics and undertaking work practices never experienced before. Design: A qualitative descriptive design. Methods: Semistructured interviews with 11 nurses recruited and deployed to work in outdoor COVID-19 testing clinics across a Local Health District in Australia. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke's guide for thematic analysis. Findings: Six themes were identified from the data: connection to being a nurse in response to the pandemic; the journey working in the clinic; fear of taking COVID-19 home; the influence of the media on personal and professional lives; responding to the community; and becoming one, developing the team. Conclusions: This study shows how responsive and adaptive nurses can be in times of crisis. Despite the fear of facing the unknown, nurses from an array of backgrounds very quickly established clear roles and team cohesiveness to respond to the needs of the community.
AB - Aim: To understand the experiences of nurses working in outdoor COVID-19 testing clinics. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to significant changes in the practices of nurses across healthcare settings. This challenge meant responding to working in completely new environments, such as the COVID-19 testing clinics and undertaking work practices never experienced before. Design: A qualitative descriptive design. Methods: Semistructured interviews with 11 nurses recruited and deployed to work in outdoor COVID-19 testing clinics across a Local Health District in Australia. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke's guide for thematic analysis. Findings: Six themes were identified from the data: connection to being a nurse in response to the pandemic; the journey working in the clinic; fear of taking COVID-19 home; the influence of the media on personal and professional lives; responding to the community; and becoming one, developing the team. Conclusions: This study shows how responsive and adaptive nurses can be in times of crisis. Despite the fear of facing the unknown, nurses from an array of backgrounds very quickly established clear roles and team cohesiveness to respond to the needs of the community.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Crisis
KW - Nurses
KW - Pandemic
KW - Teamwork
KW - Testing clinics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85212849068&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://ezproxy.uws.edu.au/login?url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2024.11.002
U2 - 10.1016/j.colegn.2024.11.002
DO - 10.1016/j.colegn.2024.11.002
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85212849068
SN - 1322-7696
VL - 32
SP - 18
EP - 25
JO - Collegian
JF - Collegian
IS - 1
ER -
