Lived experiences of Iranian nursing managers in organizing and confronting the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of the new infectious disease is a global health issue and a threat to nurses and other health care workers. In addition to nurses who have been directly involved in the care of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), nursing managers have also played a key role in the management and control of this disease. The present study aimed to investigate the lived experiences of nursing managers in organizing and confronting COVID-19 in Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was a qualitative research design conducted by descriptive phenomenology based on Husserl philosophy. Participants consisted of 32 nursing managers working in general public hospitals in East Guilan, north of Iran, selected using purposive sampling. In-depth and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Colaizzi's strategy was used to analyze the data. Coding was done with MAXQDA 2007 software. Lincoln and Guba trustworthiness criteria were used to achieve accuracy and reliability of the data. RESULTS: Data analysis led to the emergence of a main theme called “Management in the COVID-19 Crisis” and three sub-themes: ”Dealing with the unknown”, ”Managing deficiencies and assets” and ”Structural challenges”. CONCLUSION: In this study the nursing managers experienced how to deal with the COVID-19 crisis. By examining the experiences of managers involved in the COVID-19 pandemic, a rich set of managerial experiences can be gathered that prepare them for other infectious diseases in the future.