Abstract

Background: Geriatric care nurses used different strategies to cope with the various burdens they faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting care interactions and reflecting their professional identity.
Objective: To explore the burdens and coping strategies of German geriatric care nurses, using professional identity as a conceptual framework.
Design: Cross-sectional factorial survey using vignettes (i.e., hypothetical descriptions of care situations).
Setting & Participants: Stratified sampling was applied at the facility level, based on the distribution of nursing homes across German federal states. A total of 188 geriatric care nurses participated.
Methods: The factorial online survey included socio-demographic variables, COVID-19-specific questions, vignettes, and feedback items. Descriptive statistics and multilevel regression analysis were conducted.
Results: Participants reported higher stress during the pandemic than before. Burden characteristics described in the vignettes had no significant effect on participants' judgement behaviour. A random-intercept level 2 model showed that a higher workload and caring for residents significantly influenced participants' judgement. Closeness to family and friends, and seeking support from colleagues were effective coping strategies, while bending guidelines and harmful consumption behaviour were less effective.
Conclusions: Coping strategies focused on social interaction were particularly beneficial despite contact restrictions. The type of burden appeared less important than the ability to cope with it. The subordinate role of professional identity may reflect a shift towards functional care. We have highlighted the possible need to address stress management and working conditions of geriatric care nurses, especially in the light of potential future crises.
Registration: None