Nursing human resource management facing Covid-19: an integrative review

human resource management is an important part of an emergency plan in the face of major events such as the outbreak of an infectious disease that has become a pandemic. Proper employment of nurses is essential to ensure the continuity of work and guarantee adequate human resource in response to increasing demand.  The purpose of this study was to identify the actions and experiences of different countries focusing on the East Asian region in nursing human resource management facing Covid-19.

The study was an integrated review consisted of five steps, including specifying the review purpose, searching the literature, evaluating data from primary sources, analyzing data, and presenting the results suggested by Knafl & Whittemore. Databases like SID, Iran DOC, Scopus, CINAHL, PubMed, Google Scholar and Science Direct were searched using the words of Covid-19, Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, Human Resource Management and nursing. The initial comprehensive search result consisted of 87 articles. After applying inclusion criteria and assessing the articles using the Bowling's Quality Assessment Tool, finally 7 studies were included.

Findings were classified into four main categories as follows: 1.Preparation including management and planning, development of standards and instructions, evaluation and organization of personnel 2.Response including allocation and optimization of personnel, implementation of strategy, centralized Services, monitoring and control, optimization of departments and workflow, participation and communication 3.Empowerment including continuous training and evaluation  4.Support including staff welfare and incentive activities, using mass media and psychological support.

The topic of human resource management has always been noticed of health care system managers and it's doubly important in situations such as the outbreak of an epidemic. Proper planning and preparation is the key to management, which can be achieved by forming a leadership team with the management of the nursing department. The most important part of the response phase is the proper use of human resources. The two stages of preparation and response will be more effective when they are accompanied by empowerment and support of employees. The results can help in better preparedness and response to public health emergencies in the future and to develop an appropriate plan in response to increased demand and proper nurses' management.