Sustaining Health Promotion and Education to Build Resilient Communities: Lessons from Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Highlights: Public Health Relevance—How does this work relate to a public health issue? Nurses as Frontline Leaders: The study highlights the critical leadership roles of nurses in public health promotion and education to strengthen community resilience and response to public health emergencies. Adaptive Strategies: Describing the adaptive strategies of nurses during COVID-19 serves as a model to optimize the health system’s readiness for similar future crises. Public Health Significance—Why is this work of significance to public health? Showcasing Systemic Problem: The study illustrates systemic problems that nurses face, such as resource paucity and stigma, and underscores the necessity for complete support systems to have a resilient healthcare domain. Inter-professional Teamwork: It underscores the necessity of inter-professional teamwork and a dynamic approach to task setting in disaster scenarios, which can be helpful for health care delivery during calamities. Public Health Implications —What are the key implications or messages for practitioners, policy makers and/or researchers in public health? Policy implications: The study concludes that policy points to the need for resource allocation to healthcare workers’ well-being and mental health support to sustain health promotion during and post health crises. Community Engagement Approaches: The manuscript argues that community-level outreach and education are essential for addressing misinformation and increasing public health literacy during emergencies. Background: Nurses, the largest segment of the global health workforce, play vital roles in managing disease outbreaks and boosting community resilience during public health emergencies. Purpose: This study explored the experiences of senior nurses in leading health facilities in Ghana during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We employed a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive approach and purposive sampling to recruit 30 senior nurses involved in frontline care during the COVID-19 pandemic. We used telephone interviews to examine how nurses’ roles are changing during public health crises. Results: Nurses navigated challenges related to infection prevention and control, team dynamics and social support, resource limitations, stigma against those affected, and leadership. Some of the nurses drew on their prior experience to navigate the complexities of COVID-19. The significance of inter-professional working and the flexible delegation of tasks is reinforced by the current study, which suggests that professional boundaries became more blurred during the crisis. Optimal responses to outbreaks are influenced by professional preparedness and adaptive learning. Conclusions: Nurses displayed extraordinary resilience and determination, yet faced enormous challenges, including PPE shortages, stigmatization from within their own communities and organizations, and a lack of welfare support. The findings from this analysis are intended to support national and global efforts in pandemic preparedness and healthcare worker assistance, highlighting the essential role nurses play in creating more resilient health systems for future crises.