Spencer Sarah, Hedden Lindsay, Lukewich Julia, Marshall Emily Gard, Mathews Maria, Idrees Samina, Isenor Jennifer E, Martin-Misener Ruth, Meredith Leslie, Vaughan Crystal, Ryan Dana
Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
Faculty of Nursing, Memorial University, St. John's, NL, Canada.
Front Health Serv. 2025 Jun 26;5:1557654. doi: 10.3389/frhs.2025.1557654. eCollection 2025.
Primary care in Canada was an essential component of the COVID-19 pandemic response, as well as continued provision of routine care. Yet, primary care settings were inadequately supported during the pandemic, leaving clinicians feeling vulnerable and overwhelmed. Existing pandemic research has focused on the health workforce broadly or those working in acute care settings. Accordingly, we sought to understand the personal and professional experiences of nurses working in primary care settings in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic to inform future pandemic responses and health workforce planning that account for primary care nurses' mental and physical needs.
We conducted semi-structured interviews with licensed and registered practical nurses, registered nurses, and nurse practitioners working in primary care in four Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Ontario. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed.
We interviewed 76 primary care nurses about their pandemic experiences. Using the National Academy of Medicine's systems model of clinician burnout and professional wellbeing, we categorized participants' experiences according to their job demands and job resources. These data describe how COVID-19 altered primary care nurses' professional experiences across a variety of areas, often with implications for their wellbeing.
Prior to the pandemic, primary care nurses could rely on their job resources to protect against the demands they regularly encounter; however, many of these resources were negatively affected by the pandemic. Improved pandemic preparedness, including primary care-specific supports to promote physical and psychological safety, workflow efficiency, worker rest and recovery, and preservation of primary care capacity are needed to uphold primary care nurse wellbeing during a pandemic or other extended health emergencies.
加拿大的初级医疗保健是应对新冠疫情的重要组成部分，同时也是持续提供常规护理的关键。然而，在疫情期间，初级医疗保健机构得到的支持不足，导致临床医生感到脆弱和不堪重负。现有的疫情研究主要集中在广义的卫生人力或在急症护理机构工作的人员。因此，我们试图了解在新冠疫情期间加拿大初级医疗保健机构工作的护士的个人和职业经历，以为未来的疫情应对和卫生人力规划提供参考，使其能够考虑到初级护理护士的身心健康需求。
我们对在加拿大四个省份（不列颠哥伦比亚省、纽芬兰和拉布拉多省、新斯科舍省和安大略省）从事初级医疗保健工作的持牌和注册执业护士、注册护士及执业护士进行了半结构化访谈。访谈进行了录音、转录并进行了主题分析。
我们就疫情经历采访了76名初级医疗保健护士。我们使用美国国家医学院的临床医生职业倦怠和职业幸福感系统模型，根据参与者的工作需求和工作资源对他们的经历进行了分类。这些数据描述了新冠疫情如何在多个领域改变了初级医疗保健护士的职业经历，这往往对他们的幸福感产生影响。
在疫情之前，初级医疗保健护士可以依靠他们的工作资源来抵御他们经常遇到的需求；然而，其中许多资源受到了疫情的负面影响。需要改进疫情防范措施，包括提供针对初级医疗保健的支持，以促进身体和心理安全、工作流程效率、员工休息和恢复，以及在疫情或其他长期卫生紧急情况期间维持初级医疗保健能力，以维护初级医疗保健护士的幸福感。
