The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on primary care physicians and nurses in Nova Scotia: a qualitative exploratory study

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought immense disruption worldwide, dramatically altering the ways we live, work and learn on a day-to-day basis; however, few studies have investigated this from the perspective of primary care providers. In this study, we sought to explore the experiences of primary care providers in the province of Nova Scotia, with the intention of understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on primary care providers' ability to provide care, their information pathways, and the personal and professional impact of the pandemic. METHODS: We conducted an exploratory qualitative research study involving semistructured interviews conducted via Zoom videoconferencing or telephone with primary care providers (physicians, nurse practitioners and family practice nurses) who self-identified as working in primary health care in Nova Scotia from June 2020 to April 2021. We performed a thematic analysis involving coding and classifying data according to themes. Emergent themes were then interpreted by seeking commonalties, divergence, relationships and overarching patterns in the data. RESULTS: Twenty-four primary care providers were interviewed. Subsequent analysis identified 4 interrelated themes within the data: disruption to work-life balance, disruptions to "non-COVID-19" patient care, impact of provincial and centralized policies, and filtering and processing an influx of information. INTERPRETATION: Our findings showed that managing a crisis of this magnitude requires coordination and new ways of working, balancing professional and personal life, and adapting to already implemented changes (i.e., virtual care). A specific primary care pandemic response plan is essential to mitigate the impact of future health care crises.