Nursing and Maslow’s Hierarchy: A Health Care Pyramid Approach to Safety and Security During a Global Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 tested health care organizations in ways many had never experienced. In response to new problems, nurses and other staff needed creative solutions that would allow them to quickly and safely provide care. Nurses concurrently experienced stressors to their personal needs. The authors collected examples of creative problem-solving through staff interviews and reflected on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to consider how nurse’s needs were being met throughout the pandemic. Recognizing that basic needs must be addressed before an individual can ascend the levels to eventual self-realization, the authors share how one health care organization quickly and successfully met the patient care requirements while supporting nurses basic needs like safety and trust.