Reorganization of nursing work in an intensive care unit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the reorganization of nursing work in an intensive care unit of a public hospital due to the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: Report of the experience from February to April 2020, about the reorganization of a unit. RESULTS: The description of the experience was divided into four moments: Definition of the cohort isolation; Reorganization of the intensive care units as General and Respiratory; Health care teams and work shifts; and Wearing and removing protective clothing by the teams. CONCLUSION: The COVID -19 pandemic brought numerous challenges to the management of intensive care units. The socialization of management experiences can contribute to the definition of new strategies, including in the post-pandemic period.

Medical device-related pressure injury prevention in critically ill patients: nursing care.

OBJECTIVES: to know the care implemented by the nursing team to prevent medical device-related pressure injuries in critically ill patients. METHODS: this is a qualitative research conducted with 15 nursing professionals from Intensive Care Unit. Sampling was carried out by theoretical saturation. For data analysis, the Discourse of the Collective Subject technique was used. RESULTS: six speeches emerged, whose central ideas were interventions for medical device-related pressure injury prevention: care in fixation; frequent repositioning; protection and padding of body areas in contact; preferences for flexible materials, when available; attention of professionals so that they do not comer under patients; early assessment and removal, when clinically possible. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: nursing care was directed mainly to respiratory devices, catheters in general and monitoring equipment, indicating that professionals have the knowledge to provide safe assistance consistent with the literature.

Work environment of hospital nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil.

AIM: To investigate the nurses' work environment in university hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic brought challenging times for nurses worldwide. In Brazil, as well as in several countries, nurses are working hard in hospital settings caring for patients infected with the virus, sometimes with unfavourable work environment conditions. METHODS: This study was a convergent embedded mixed methods research. The sample comprised 104 nurses from three Brazilian university hospitals. Data were collected in April-June 2020 from an online questionnaire with a self-reporting Likert scale survey designed to measure the nurses' perceptions of their work environment. Qualitative data in the form of written comments were also collected through an open question. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. RESULTS: The quantitative results showed that the responses to 'I received training on the correct use of personal protective equipment' and 'I am afraid of being infected' items had the best and worst evaluations, respectively. The qualitative findings revealed five themes: feeling of insecurity, lack of personal protective equipment, lack of diagnostic tests, changes in the care flow and fear of the unknown. CONCLUSION: The study has highlighted the challenges faced by hospital nurses while caring for patients with COVID-19. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND NURSING POLICY: The gaps identified will assist the policymakers and hospital managers in developing policies to enhance the support offered to nurses and improve the care provided to patients with COVID-19 in university hospitals. The results also indicate the need for attention to the mental health of the professionals due to the increasing workload and treatment of an illness hitherto unknown.