The coronavirus pandemic created an unprecedented deployment of health professionals. The objective of this study was to describe the experiences of pediatric nurses transferred to adult COVID-19 wards during the first wave of the pandemic.

We performed a qualitative study using a phenomenological approach. Nurses were recruited on a voluntary basis. All participants moved from a pediatric ward and were redeployed to an adult COVID-19 ward in another hospital. Interviews were carried out face to face in line with social-distancing guidelines. We used a script of open-end questions. The interviews were recorded and transcribed in full and qualitative data were analyzed using NVivo software.

In total, 23 nurses were interviewed. Our analysis revealed positive and negative experiences given the different types of support the nurses received, individual attitudes that promoted resilience in a crisis situation, ethical conflicts linked to end-of-life care, and their perspectives on the next wave of the pandemic. The main difficulties encountered by the transferred nurses were related to their working conditions and safety, communication about working practices, and end-of-life patient care. In most cases, the individual resilience strategies put in place and the different forms of social support enabled them to cope with stress and maintain their commitment. However, some interviewees would have benefited from improved managerial support. For all participants, their perception of this support and the benefits of their experience influenced their willingness to be transferred to an adult ward again during a future wave of the pandemic.