Abstract
Nursing managers face numerous challenges in their field of work and the COVID-19
(coronavirus disease) pandemic has brought about a great number of additional challenges. The onset of COVID-19 in South Africa occurred in March 2020 (Edoka, Fraser, Jamieson, Meyer-Rath & Mdewa, 2022), and it has since had a significant effect on nursing and nursing management. It is therefore crucial that nursing managers are equipped to deal with these uncertain times effectively. The purpose of this study is to gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences of nursing managers in managing public health services at a central hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The researcher used a qualitative, explorative, descriptive, and contextual research design with a phenomenological approach. Purposive sampling was used to sample nurse managers responsible for the management of a public health service during the COVID-19 pandemic. In-depth individual audio recorded interviews were conducted to collect data. Specific measures were followed during data collection, such as conducting a pilot interview, and composing detailed field notes. The central question posed to the participants was "How was it for you managing health services during the COVID-19
pandemic?"
Data analysis was done utilising Giorgi’s method of coding. The research findings were presented within the literature discourse. Ethical standards such as informed consent, autonomy, principle of justice, privacy and confidentiality, risks and benefits, and gatekeeper permission were adhered to. Trustworthiness was ensured through the principles of credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability as prescribed by
Lincoln and Guba (1985).
The themes and categories that emerged from the findings were presented as follows:
The first theme was unit managers’ experiences during COVID-19, which consisted of three categories, namely: nursing managers' initial experiences of COVID-19, nursing managers' personal experiences during COVID-19, and nursing managers' post-COVID-
19 experiences.
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The second theme was nursing managers' challenging experiences during COVID-19,
with three categories, namely: nursing managers’ challenges regarding human resource management, nursing managers' resource management challenges, and the challenges
with infrastructure. The third theme was nursing managers' management experiences during COVID-19, with
three categories, namely: nursing managers' human resource management experiences, nursing managers' unique COVID-19 management experiences, and nursing managers' management skills. The fourth theme that emerged was nursing managers' coping experiences during COVID-19, divided into two categories, namely: nurse managers' and nurses' coping
mechanisms, and nurse managers' experiences of support (see detailed discussion in Chapter 3).