Returning Home From Shift: Boundary Maintenance and Infection Control Practices Among Nurses in the Pre-Vaccination...

To examine how nurses maintained and reconfigured boundaries between work and home in order to protect themselves and their families during the pre-vaccination phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A qualitative descriptive study using a cross-sectional online survey with open-ended questions.

A self-designed online survey was conducted between October 2020 and February 2021 with a sample of nurses. Qualitative data from open-ended survey responses were analysed using thematic analysis then deductively mapped onto the theories of boundary maintenance, spillover and crossover.

A total of 69 nurses participated in this study, drawn from hospital, aged care, general practice and community settings, with ages ranging from 18 to 74 years. Five themes were identified: stress and work intensification; confusion arising from rapidly changing guidelines; resource constraints; anger and resentment towards colleagues able to work remotely; and deliberate strategies to protect family members from infection. The final two themes highlight how nurses actively constructed new physical, emotional and symbolic boundaries between work and home in response to the perceived risks of viral transmission.

Prior to vaccination, nurses created their own infection control rituals at home to shield their families, revealing how professional knowledge spilled into domestic life, becoming an extension to nurses' work. These critical boundary practices often remained unseen but are vital to frontline nursing labour work during an infection-control crisis. Understanding and recognising these early responses provides valuable insight for future pandemic preparedness, workforce support and infection prevention policy.

No patient or public contribution.