A qualitative descriptive study of the COVID-19 pandemic: Impacts on nursing care delivery in the critical care work system.

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed the delivery of nursing care in U.S. critical care settings. The purpose of this study was to describe nurses' perceptions of the critical care work system during the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. We conducted interviews with experienced critical care nurses who worked during the pandemic and analyzed these data using deductive content analysis framed by the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) 2.0 model. Concepts include the critical care work system structures, nursing care processes, outcomes, and adaptations during the pandemic. Our findings revealed a description of the critical care work system framed by the SEIPS 2.0 model. We suggest how human factors engineers can utilize a human factors and engineering approach to maximize the adaptations critical care nurses made to their work system during the pandemic.

Selecting a theoretical framework to guide research on the COVID-19 pandemic impacts on nursing care delivery and the critical care work system (using Reed's Intermodern approach to theory critique).

Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on nursing care delivery in critical care work systems is urgently needed. Theoretical frameworks guide understanding of phenomena in research. In this paper, we critique four theoretical frameworks (Donabedian's Quality Model, the Quality Health Outcomes Model, the Systems Research Organizing Model, and the Systems Engineering (SEIPS) 2.0 Model) using (blinded) (2018) Intermodern philosophical perspective of nursing science. (blinded) (2018) Intermodern approach to theory critique was selected for its pragmatic perspective and focus on personal and professional health and wellbeing. The SEIPS 2.0 Model was ultimately selected to guide the study of the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on nursing care delivery in the critical care work systems.