RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Hospitals must be well-prepared to respond to pandemics. Hospital preparedness is critical to ensure optimal health service functioning and care delivery to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. Nurse managers play critical roles and provide expert advice on hospital preparedness models, to facilitate the delivery of safe and effective care, within the pandemic context. AIM: To explore nurse managers' perspectives of hospital preparedness to handle the COVID-19 pandemic in its early phase. DESIGN: Descriptive qualitative study. METHODS: Nurse managers were recruited from two public hospitals designated for handling COVID-19, in East Java of Indonesia, using purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted via phone and video conference. Data were analysed using the content analysis. RESULTS: A total of nine nurse managers participated and were included in analyses. Three main categories were identified. These were (1) operational policy, (2) infrastructure arrangement, and (3) healthcare personnel management. CONCLUSIONS: The Indonesian healthcare system has made responsive adjustments to handle COVID-19 by increasing the flexibility and adaptability of institutional physical structures, services, and human resources on the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.