Balogun, Mobolanle, Dada, Festus Opeyemi, Oladimeji, Adetola, Gwacham-Anisiobi, Uchenna, Sekoni, Adekemi and Banke-Thomas, Aduragbemi ORCID: 0000-0002-4449-0131 (2022) Leading in a time of crisis: a qualitative study capturing experiences of health facility leaders during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria’s epicentre. Leadership in Health Services. ISSN 1751-1879 (doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/LHS-02-2022-0017)

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Abstract

Purpose – The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disruptive effect on the health system. Health facility leaders were at the forefront of maintaining service delivery and were exposed to varied stressors in the early phase of the pandemic. This study aims to explore the leadership experiences of health facility leaders during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria’s epicentre.
Design/methodology/approach – We conducted an exploratory descriptive qualitative study. To achieve this, we remotely interviewed 33 health facility leaders of different cadres across primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of the public health care system in Lagos, Nigeria. The key informant interviews were transcribed verbatim and were analysed using thematic analysis.
Findings – The health facility leaders experienced heightened levels of fear, anxiety and stressors during the early phase of the pandemic. They also had genuine concerns about exposing their family members to the virus and had to manage some healthcare workers who were afraid for their lives and reluctant. Coping mechanisms included psychological and social support; innovative hygiene measures at health facility and at home; training and staff welfare in more ways than usual. They were motivated to continue rendering services during the crisis because of their passion, their calling, the Hippocratic oath, and support from the State government.
Originality – The experiences of health facility leaders from different parts of the world have been documented. However, this is one of the first studies that specifically report multi-layer leadership experiences of health facility leaders during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited. Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited. 'This author accepted manuscript is deposited under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC) licence. This means that anyone may distribute, adapt, and build upon the work for non-commercial purposes, subject to full attribution. If you wish to use this manuscript for commercial purposes, please contact permissions@emerald.com.'
Uncontrolled Keywords:	COVID-19; health; leadership; coping; motivation; Nigeria
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD61 Risk Management R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development > Centre for Vulnerable Children and Families Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > School of Human Sciences (HUM)
Last Modified:	08 Dec 2022 12:48
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/35891

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