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THRIVE aims to understand Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)-registered nurses’ experiences of working in care homes for older people during the COVID-19 pandemic, how this impacted on resilience, mental health and wellbeing, and to collaboratively develop theory-informed approaches for ongoing and future support in this professional group.
The lead for this study is Dr Diane Bunn, Associate Professor of Nursing Research.
Key Research Questions
1. For NMC-registered nurses working in care homes for older people during the COVID-19 pandemic, how has this experience impacted positively or negatively on resilience, mental health and wellbeing, what kinds of support were available, and did this change over time?
2. Does collaborative working facilitate the development of targeted strategies to support long-term resilience and wellbeing in NMC-registered care home nurses?
The study was funded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing and concluded early 2022.
The full details of our study can be found in two published papers:
Birt L; Lane K; Corner J; Sanderson K; Bunn D. care-home nurses’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic: managing ethical conundrums at personal cost: a qualitative study. J Nurs Sch. 2023; 55:226–238. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.12855.
Chapman-Wright J, Parnell SA, Bunn D et al. Perspectives: Nurses in care homes as advisors in research: benefits for all? J Res Nurs. Vol 27(4), pp401-405. https://doi.org/10.1177/17449871221103839
The Report from Phase 2, written collaboratively with care home nurses, makes six recommendations to support care home nurses to recover from, and plan for future major events. These were: (i) develop formal, bespoke mental health and wellbeing strategies for nurses working in care homes; (ii) regular debriefing sessions; (iii) support for emotional support networks; (iv) improved communication from external agencies to care homes, as well as within care homes; (v) providing training and career development opportunities for the whole care-home workforce; (vi) improved planning for future pandemics and major unplanned events.
For further details, please contact Diane Bunn: d.bunn@uea.ac.uk
Page last updated: 11 March 2024