Tinkering with good care: Professional judgment and innovations in Danish nursing homes

This article examines the COVID-19 pandemic as a large-scale natural experiment, presenting unique opportunities for reflection and insights into what constitutes ‘good care’ for front-line managers in Danish nursing homes. Using care and institutional theory, this exploratory study delves into how professional judgment and innovation redefine practices in nursing homes to provide quality care based upon qualitative questions in a national quantitative survey. Our analysis complements prevalent negative lessons on infections, high mortality, and moral distress by highlighting positive lessons about achieving intimacy and tranquillity during an extraordinary period. The article offers insights into the emergence of new care logics in a situation of rupture, as well as insights into the values and tensions inherent in good care work that are worth considering far beyond the pandemic. We offer lessons that relate to the role of professional judgment, the value of ‘active life’ in relation to a diversity of needs, as well as sufficient time and continuity of care logics.