Introduction
The nurses and healthcare workers have been facing high pressure and it is even greater nowadays. In the case of COVID-19, the pressure on the transition of novice nurses into emergency nurses has increased very rapidly (Heffernan, 2020). This emergency time intrigues us to think about the methods and approaches for the transition of novice nurses into professionals and train them effectively. The teaching and training of the nursing staff have always been an evolving issue in health care centers. Passionate and authentic leadership is needed to overcome this issue and survive in this difficult time. The leaders and healthcare staff who are experienced in pressure management in the previous pandemics are an asset for this purpose. It is a time of crisis in which we can cope with the challenges by accumulating the courage and inner stimulation to show the abilities and characteristics in overcoming the pandemic. The role of effective leadership is to help the nursing staff identify their inner qualities and believe in them to manage these unfavorable circumstances. They help them to identify the challenges and devise an effective methodology to effectively manage the stress and crowding of the patients (Heffernan, 2020).
The process of transition of novice nurses requires the experience mentoring staff having experience in dealing with the pandemics and nursing issues. The purpose of this mentoring is to help the nurses understand the process of practices and methodology development. They also teach them the policies and procedures of the medical practice and help them gather the courage and overcome the feelings of fear during the pandemics. The novice nurses are more vulnerable to pressure and fear and need a defined training and mentoring from the mentoring leadership and experienced healthcare staff. In the case of pandemics, the emotions of fear and courage are occurring side by side and it is difficult to overcome the pressure of unprecedented conditions. Experienced nursing mentors can manage this pressure and can also manage the performance of nursing staff due to their previous experience dealing with unavoidable conditions. They help them and guide them for the transition of novice nurses into the emergency nursing staff.
In this case, the nursing mentors who are experienced in the previous pandemics like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Aviation Influenza, Middle East Respiratory syndrome, and Ebola are more beneficial in guiding the novice nurses (Marks, Edwards & Jerge, 2020). They have considerable experience in the management of pandemic pressure and guiding the staff in implementing effective approaches and methodologies. They will train them to navigate the potential issues and risks and find the appropriate methods to overcome them. Moreover, they will also teach them self-care strategies and support them through unprecedented conditions. The focus of this essay is the transition of novice nurses into emergency nurses during these pandemics and the significant role of practices and teachings by the experienced leadership in overcoming these emergency conditions (García‐Martín et al., 2020).
The research problem and its significance
The focus of this essay is on the use of the experience of the nursing mentors and experienced nursing staff for the transition of the novice nurses in the days of the outbreak of COVID-19. The nursing staff in the hospitals has been facing greater pressure due to the overcrowding of the patients in the past several years. However, this pressure is even greater than past now due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The hospitals are compelled to recruit a large number of novice health care workers due to this pandemic.
The novice nurses need guidance and mentoring for the clinical judgment and are not able to sufficiently understand the complexities of the clinical operations (Nazarko, 2020). They don’t have much experience in the maintenance of clinical pressure and disharmony at an unexpected time. In the spread of the Corona virus, the new nurses face a big challenge to effectively understand the structure and physiology of the patients and issues faced by our medical field. They have to stop the attack of this virus on the patients as well as themselves through different strategies. They have to support and care for the patients of the outbreak that are seriously ill and save the lives of citizens. Due to the high pressure regarding the mortality rates and infection rates, they have to gather the courage to take care of the people and make diligent efforts to support the patients who are even living without their families. These types of circumstances are more difficult to handle for novice nurses. That is why they need sufficient mentoring from the experienced nursing staff. The senior and experienced nursing staff helps them to enhance their skills and quickly navigate the outcomes and issues of the outbreak. This passionate leadership is more important and crucial in this pandemic to train and teach novice nurses. This teaching and mentoring have been proved much effective for enhancing the skills and expertise of novice nurses. They can cope with the unexpected times in a better way if their skills are honed by the experienced staff.
The research design
In these conditions of the COVID-19 outbreak, the role of authentic leadership is very crucial. They help the novice nursing staff to accept the challenges and have the courage to manage and control them bravely. There are four important steps in the mentoring of novice nurses. These are self-awareness, balanced processing, internalized moral perspective, and relational transparency. The nurses have a big opportunity to quickly adapt to the skills and strategies if the mentor acts as a role model for these four characteristics. The novice nurses can openly share the feelings, thoughts, and experiences with the mentors that are very crucial to efficiently manage the situation.
In the process of transition of novice nurses, the essential component is the collaboration between novice nurses and mentor nurses (Pearce, 2020). Through positive relationships, they can make the process of teaching more successful. Authentic leadership helps to focus on the self-development process during mentorship and this will bring about the progress and success of the clinical institution and organization. Authentic leaders can serve others selflessly and in an open way. They help the clients and patients and coach novice nurses to do the same thing. Therefore, they focus on self-awareness to help others and navigate the essential issues and dilemmas. They proactively develop an open and positive relationship with the clients and patients that is a positive process in the healing and treatment of the patients. They tend to pursue the shared goals and be open and positive with others. They behave and communicate with others that are according to the standard values and are optimistic in the process. Due to this positive and trustworthy approach, novice nurses can represent themselves openly and behave as they are. In this way, they can find a greater opportunity for improvement. In this pandemic era, the mentoring nurses have to support the novice nurses through this type of authentic leadership for the effective transition to emergency nurses. Therefore, novice nurses will embrace themselves and will work harder to develop the essential skills and strategies to deal with these emergencies.
The research methods
In this research, sixteen interviews were held in the emergency department. They were semi-structured and the data obtained was also analyzed through the content analysis. Many clinical practices were used in the process. Self-awareness and resilience are significant among these coaching practices (Ulenaers, Grosemans, Schrooten & Bergs, 2021).
Self-awareness is the crucial and core element of novice nurses’ transition to emergency nurses. They mentor nurses help them to be authentic in the dealings and clinical operations. They are also true to others and with themselves. The novice nurses and mentor nurses have many common experiences that they share for the true and enhanced learning experience. Authentic leadership can be successfully taught by role modeling the qualities and characteristics that have to be taught. In this way, the mentees follow a positive and self-care approach during the clinical operations. When the importance of self-awareness becomes evident upon them, they automatically practice the self-internalized moral behavior that is also a core element during this transition process.
The important element in the transition of novice nurses is resilience (White, 2021). It is the ability to withstand the harsh and challenging environment and cope with the issue and make a successful strategy to resolve them. Authentic leadership creates resilience in the nursing staff to help them remain consistent with their serving and caring roles in difficult times. During these tough times, many healthcare workers are seen to have negative emotions of fear and guilt. When there is a high mortality rate with the infection and the efforts are not yielding many positive effects, they can feel underestimated and guilty. Some even want to quit their sacred profession because they cannot see that mortality. But the authentic leadership can make them resilient and solid against these pandemics. They produce a challenging and encouraging attitude in them and they can effectively cope with difficult times.
Findings and their relevance to contemporary nursing policy and practice
In this research period, the manor findings that were observed were three types of outcomes:
- Fears and concerns
- The issues within organizations
- Support for novice nurses
The findings can better illustrate the need for learning programs and the latest technology-based coaching of novice nurses. They can produce the confidence and self-awareness to cope with these types of pandemics. The rooms with the emergency and evidence that is based on technology are two basic tools that are used in this method for the effective training of novice nurses.
Conclusion
The creation of transition of novice nurses to the emergency and experienced nurses can be significantly obtained by authentic leadership. The support of the novice nurses that are entering the clinical operations has limited expertise and judgment. If the authentic leadership coaches them with the help of a technology-based environment and open type of style, they will quickly develop the self-awareness and self-care approaches to overcome and control the situations.
References
García‐Martín, M., Roman, P., Rodriguez‐Arrastia, M., Diaz‐Cortes, M., Soriano‐Martin, P., & Ropero‐Padilla, C. (2020). Novice nurse’s transitioning to emergency nurse during COVID‐19 pandemic: A qualitative study. Journal Of Nursing Management, 29(2), 258-267. doi: 10.1111/jonm.13148
Heffernan, C. (2020). Delivering immunisations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Independent Nurse, 2020(8), 15-17. doi: 10.12968/indn.2020.8.15
Heffernan, C. (2020). Tackling vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Independent Nurse, 2020(12), 14-16. doi: 10.12968/indn.2020.12.14
Marks, S., Edwards, S., & Jerge, E. (2020). Rapid Deployment of Critical Care Nurse Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Nurse Leader. doi: 10.1016/j.mnl.2020.07.008
Nazarko, L. (2020). The environmental consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Independent Nurse, 2020(8), 18-20. doi: 10.12968/indn.2020.8.18
Pearce, L. (2020). Infection prevention and control in emergency departments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Emergency Nurse, 28(5), 10-10. doi: 10.7748/en.28.5.10.s9
Ulenaers, D., Grosemans, J., Schrooten, W., & Bergs, J. (2021). Clinical placement experience of nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study. Nurse Education Today, 99, 104746. doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2021.104746
White, J. (2021). A Phenomenological Study of Nurse Managers’ and Assistant Nurse Managers’ Experiences during the COVID‐19 Pandemic in the United States. Journal Of Nursing Management. doi: 10.1111/jonm.13304