A cross sectional study of nurses' perceptions of nurse leaders' internal crisis communication during the COVID‐19 pandemic

AIM: The aim of this study is to describe nurse perceptions of nurse leaders' internal crisis communication during the COVID‐19 pandemic. BACKGROUND: Internal communication is a vital part of nurse leaders' work, even more so during crises such as the COVID‐19 pandemic. METHOD: This is a cross‐sectional study design. The data were collected from 204 Finnish nurses in February 2021. A questionnaire developed in this study consisted of 29 items measuring internal crisis communication and seven demographic variables. The relationships between the variables were examined with cross‐tabulation, a chi‐squared test and non‐parametric tests. Factor structure was evaluated with exploratory factor analysis and reliability with Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: Nurses perceived the timeliness of communication highest and interaction the lowest. Nurses from intensive care, acute care and operative rooms gave highest evaluations for the content of communication and timeliness. Nurses working with COVID‐19 patients daily or weekly evaluated the highest level of false communication. CONCLUSION: Nurse leaders' internal crisis communication was timely, especially in the most critical units dealing with the pandemic. The study highlighted the importance of considering a unit's special needs for internal crisis communication. Interaction between nurse leaders and nursing staff during periods of crisis needs improvement. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Nurse leaders' successful and emphatic communication is important in supporting nurses in managing a crisis.