Nurse leadership practices during the Covid-19 pandemic in university hospitals

to analyze the leadership practices among nurses in face of COVID-19 pandemic in university hospitals in Brazil.

this is a multicenter, qualitative and exploratory-descriptive research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 139 nurses who worked in the care for patients with COVID-19 in Brazilian university hospitals. Thematic content analysis was carried out with support of Iramuteq® software.

Three categories were obtained: 1) Leadership practices with individual emphasis, highlighting decision-making agility and technical-scientific knowledge as relevant elements for professional performance; 2) Leadership practices with emphasis on the team and direct care for critical patients, presents the challenges faced in managing human resources amidst a high number of infections and professional absences; and 3) Leadership practices with emphasis on Safety and material management, presenting strategies to enhance patient and professional safety despite difficulties related to the supply of materials.

leadership practices such as adaptive capacity, transmission of trust in the leader, collaborative decision-making, encouraging team development, management of human and material resources, and effective communication allowed nurses to cope with the critical moments of the pandemic.