Providing targeted psychological support to frontline nurses involved in the management of COVID-19: An action research

Abstract

Aim: To develop and implement a targeted psychological support scheme for frontline nurses involved in the management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Background: Nurses play a vital role in managing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, while confronting enormous challenges and psychological problems.

Methods: Action research design was adopted to develop and provide a targeted psychological support scheme to 1,496 frontline nurses. Data regarding nurses' feedback were collected from WeChat group chat, letters and comments on theme lectures. Subsequently, qualitative content analysis was conducted using MAXQDA.

Results: A targeted psychological support scheme was formed via three action cycles according to nurses' needs. Frontline nurses received psychological assistance from a research team, which offered (1) a sense of belonging, (2) a sense of professional value and pride, and (3) a sense of being protected and confident.

Conclusion: The researchers successfully provided targeted psychological support to nurses, and nurses were motivated and became more confident when their needs were addressed.

Implications for nursing management: Nurses have various types of psychological needs, which could be addressed by targeted support. It is suggested that nurse managers should identify nurses' needs in real time and provide appropriate support through multidisciplinary collaboration to improve their confidence and enhance their resilience.

Keywords: action research; coronavirus disease 2019; nurse; psychological needs; support.

Figure 1

Action research and the process of action based on time and situation. COVID‐19, coronavirus disease 2019; NEI, Nursing Education Institution; PRC, People's Republic of China. ^*Phase A: Cycle I → Cycle II; Phase B: Cycle II → Cycle III [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

Figure 2

Organizational structure of the action research team. Q&A, questions and answers; IT, information technology

Figure 3

Visualization of the psychological needs of frontline nurses. Chat records in “we are together” WeChat group including: 7,481 pieces of conversation, 126 files, 401 web links, 530 images and 75 videos, totaling 8,613. Primarily, all the data were converted into text descriptions. For example, a nurse asked for advice on the use of PPE, and the researchers shared a PPE utilization video in response to this request. Subsequently, the video was represented by a text description titled “PPE utilization”. Afterwards, the text descriptions were managed through qualitative content analysis via MAXQDA by extracting word combinations, phrases, and sentences for further classification. Finally, the focal needs of nurses could be summarized as basic, growth, relatedness, and psychological support. The node size represented the coding weight, and the same color nodes meant the same level. [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]