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Speaking up during the COVID‐19 pandemic : nurses' experiences of organizational disregard and silence
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Abrams, Ruth, Conolly, Anna, Rowland, Emma, Harris, Ruth, Kent, Bridie, Kelly, Daniel, Couper, Keith and Maben, Jill (2023) Speaking up during the COVID‐19 pandemic : nurses' experiences of organizational disregard and silence. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 79 (6). pp. 2189-2199. doi:10.1111/jan.15526 ISSN 1365-2648.
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Journal of Advanced Nursing - 2023 - Abrams - Speaking up during the COVID‐19 pandemic Nurses experiences of.pdf - Published Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Download (462Kb) | Preview |
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.15526
Abstract
Aim
To critically examine nurses' experiences of speaking up during COVID-19 and the consequences of doing so.
Design
Longitudinal qualitative study.
Methods
Participants were purposively sampled to represent differing geographical locations, specialities, settings and redeployment experiences. They were interviewed (remotely) between July 2020 and April 2022 using a semi-structured interview topic guide.
Results
Three key themes were identified inductively from our analysis including: (1) Under threat: The ability to speak up or not; (2) Risk tolerance and avoidance: Consequences of speaking up; and (3) Deafness and hostility: Responses to speaking up. Nurses reported that their attempts to speak up typically focused on PPE, patient safety and redeployment. Findings indicate that when NHS Trusts and community services initiated their pandemic response policies, nurses' opportunities to speak up were frequently thwarted.
Conclusion
Accounts presented in this article include nurses' feeling a sense of futility or of suffering in silence in relation to speaking up. Nurses also fear the consequences of speaking up. Those who did speak up encountered a ‘deaf’ or hostile response, leaving nurses feeling disregarded by their organization. This points to missed opportunities to learn from those on the front line.
Impact
Speaking up interventions need to focus on enhancing the skills to both speak up, and respond appropriately, particularly when power, hierarchy, fear and threat might be concerned.
Patient or Public Contribution
Nurses working clinically during COVID-19 were involved in the development of this study. Participants were also involved in the development of our interview topic guide and comments obtained from the initial survey helped to shape the study design.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||||||
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Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine R Medicine > RT Nursing |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School | ||||||||||||
SWORD Depositor: | Library Publications Router | ||||||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-, Nurses -- Attitudes, Nurses -- Job stress, Whistle blowing, Hospitals -- Administration , Health services administration | ||||||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Advanced Nursing | ||||||||||||
Publisher: | Wiley | ||||||||||||
ISSN: | 1365-2648 | ||||||||||||
Official Date: | June 2023 | ||||||||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 79 | ||||||||||||
Number: | 6 | ||||||||||||
Page Range: | pp. 2189-2199 | ||||||||||||
DOI: | 10.1111/jan.15526 | ||||||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | ||||||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 24 February 2023 | ||||||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 27 February 2023 | ||||||||||||
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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