Preparing Nurses in Management Positions for Bedside Care During Times of Crisis

Background The purpose of this quality improvement project was to increase perceived self-efficacy in performing bedside skills among nurse leaders. As the demand for nurses increased, these leaders anticipated a direct role in providing patient care in the event of a patient surge due to COVID-19. Problem Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Delta variant, hospital nursing leaders were and still are concerned with the challenge of providing enough competent nurses to deliver care. The DNP project prepared nurses who work in leadership roles to take or assist in taking a patient assignment. Methods Nurse leaders attended a skills lab and procedure class. Participants completed a pre-and post-survey measuring their perceived level of self-efficacy. The project used a modified domain-specific self-efficacy scale and compared pre-and post-training mean scores. Intervention The DNP project aimed to implement a skills and procedures training course for nurses who work in management roles to improve their perception of self-efficacy from their current perception to a statistically significant improved level of perceived self-efficacy as measured by a pre-and post-survey. Results There was a statistically significant improvement (p = \u3c 0.05) for seven out of the nine tasks and an increase in the post-mean scores compared to the pre-mean scores in all nine areas. Seven out of nine domain-specific tasks demonstrated significant change except for KPHC resources (p \u3c 0.190) and glucometer (p \u3c 0.127). Conclusions Participation in the training increased nurse leaders\u27 (n=64) perceptions of self-efficacy to perform specific tasks required for patient care safely. Training that includes a skills lab and procedure course is an effective and cost-effective way to prepare nurse leaders to provide safe bedside care during a crisis