Experiences of intensive care unit nurses working with COVID-19 patients: A systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative studies.

Objectives: Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurses are at the forefront of fighting and treating the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and are often directly exposed to this virus and at risk of disease, due to their direct care for infected patients. This study aims to synthesize the experiences of ICU nurses working with COVID-19 patients. Methods: A systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative studies were undertaken. A systematic literature search in four databases, including Web of Sciences, Scopus, Embase, and PubMed (including Medline), was performed. Original qualitative studies and the qualitative section of mixed method studies, written in English, which focused on the experiences of only ICU nurses working with COVID-19 patients, were included. Results: Seventeen qualitative studies and two mixed-method studies were included in the review. As a result of the inductive content analysis, six main categories were identified, as follows: "distance from holistic nursing," "psychosocial experiences," "efforts for self-protection and wellbeing," "organizational inefficiency," "job burnout," and "emerging new experiences in the workplace." Conclusions: The findings from this study suggest that healthcare authorities and policymakers can facilitate the provision of high-quality patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic through appropriate planning to provide adequate support and training, prevent shortages of nursing staff and equipment, and provide adequate attention to the psychological needs and job satisfaction of ICU nurses. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=256070, identifier: CRD42021256070.

Emergency order allocation of e-medical supplies due to the disruptive events of the healthcare crisis.

The availability of electronic (e-medical) homecare essentials, such as thermometers, oximeters, and oxygen concentrators during the peaks of the pandemic coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has been witnessed as critical in saving the lives of people across the world. This paper presents a supply order allocation strategy of e-medical homecare essentials (HCEs) in a multi-supplier environment by a distributor while ensuring sufficient and timely availability for emergency consumption during pandemic peaks. The results, based on the actual demand data of HCEs obtained from a regional HCE distributor during the pandemic peak of the second wave in India, i.e. April-May 2021, suggest that a minimum (maximum) average of 94% (98%) availability of e-medical HCEs respectively at pharmacies could be achieved during the peak demand period using the proposed emergency order allocation algorithm in this study. Conclusively, the analysis of this study could generate insightful implications for emergency operations decisions in the HCEs supply-distribution channel.

Perinatal and Neonatal Outcomes in Immigrants From Conflict-Zone Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.

Objectives: There are controversies regarding the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes among immigrants from conflict-zone countries. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the risk of perinatal and neonatal outcomes among immigrants from conflict-zone countries compared to native-origin women in host countries. Methods: A systematic search on the databases of PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science was carried out to retrieve studies on perinatal and neonatal outcomes among immigrants from Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kosovo, Ukraine, and Pakistan. Only peer-reviewed articles published in the English language were included in the data analysis and research synthesis. The odds ratio and forest plots were constructed for assessing the outcomes of interests using the DerSimonian and Laird, and the inverse variance methods. The random-effects model and the Harbord test were used to account for heterogeneity between studies and assess publication bias, respectively. Further sensitivity analysis helped with the verification of the reliability and stability of our review results. Results: The search process led to the identification of 40 eligible studies involving 215,718 pregnant women, with an immigration background from the conflict zone, and 12,806,469 women of native origin. The adverse neonatal outcomes of the risk of small for gestational age (Pooled OR = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.6, 2.1), a 5-min Apgar score <7 (Pooled OR = 1.4, 95% CI = 1.0, 2.1), stillbirth (Pooled OR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.2, 3.0), and perinatal mortality (Pooled OR = 2, 95% CI = 1.6, 2.5) were significantly higher in the immigrant women compared to the women of native-origin. The risk of maternal outcomes, including the cesarean section (C-S) and emergency C-S, instrumental delivery, preeclampsia, and gestational diabetes was similar in both groups. Conclusion: Although the risk of some adverse maternal outcomes was comparable in the groups, the immigrant women from conflict-zone countries had a higher risk of neonatal mortality and morbidity, including SGA, a 5-min Apgar score <7, stillbirth, and perinatal mortality compared to the native-origin population. Our review results show the need for the optimization of health care and further investigation of long-term adverse pregnancy outcomes among immigrant women.

Guest editorial

[...]the current special section contributes by identifying the required levers and solutions enabling organizations worldwide to respond quickly and thoroughly to the COVID-19 challenges. Special thanks go to the editorial team of IJPDLM for their outstanding support. 2.1 Following are the details of accepted articles The first article attempts to identify the supply chain risks (SCRs) induced in COVID-19 outbreak titled “Supply chain risk mitigation strategies during COVID-19: exploratory cases of “make-to-order “handloom saree apparel industries.” [...]crucial factors and lessons were retrieved from the high-quality papers, supported by different research approaches.

Cutaneous adverse reactions of COVID-19 vaccines: A systematic review.

Numerous vaccines are under clinical development and implementation for the prevention of severe course and lethal outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This systematic review aims to summarize and integrated the findings of studies regarding cutaneous side effects of COVID-19 vaccines. This systematic review conducted by searching the scientific databases of PubMed, Scopus, Science direct, and Web of knowledge from the beginning of the COVID-19 to May 10, 2021. Articles were reviewed and analyzed based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses checklist. Seventeen studies on cutaneous side effects of COVID-19 vaccines were included after the screening of search results based on to the eligibility criteria. The results showed that the most common injection site reactions and delayed large local reactions, arising from all vaccine types, were redness/erythema (39%), followed by: itchiness (28%), urticarial rash (17%) on the neck, upper limbs, and trunk, morbilliform eruptions (6.5%), Pityriasis rosea (3%), swelling, and burning, and so forth. Most cutaneous reactions occurred in women (84%), and middle-aged people, after the first dose of vaccine, with the onset ranged from 1 to 21 days after vaccination. In addition, cutaneous reactions were generally self-limiting, and needed little or no therapeutic intervention, that were not regarded as a barrier to injecting a second dose. In conclusion, severe cutaneous side effects are very rare and approved vaccines have satisfactory safety profiles. Therefore, mild or moderate cutaneous reactions should not discourage people from vaccination. In certain groups such as patients with allergies and a history of local injection reactions, pre-vaccination counseling and assurance, also use of appropriate medications may be helpful. However, more studies are needed to investigate the side effect profile of all COVID-19 vaccines.

Anxiety and depression among healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: During a pandemic, healthcare workers (HCWs) are exposed to many stresses that predispose them to psychological disorders. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the anxiety and depression level of HCWs and determine the relationship between them in terms of their demographic characteristics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study used a cross-sectional design. The participants consisted of clinical, administrative, and cleaning staff who were working in a referral COVID-19 hospital in an urban area of Iran. The census sampling method was used for recruiting the participants from May to August 2020. The Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) questionnaire and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale were employed to collect data. Then, data were analyzed using multivariable linear regression analysis. RESULTS: One hundred forty HCWs participated in this study. The mean scores of anxiety and depression were 6.64 (4.86) and 18.21 (10.59), respectively. There was a significant direct association between anxiety and depression (P < 0.001). In addition, female gender (P = 0.01) and having a history of infection with COVID-19 (P = 0.001) were associated with a higher level of anxiety. Moreover, having a history of being quarantined due to COVID-19 was associated with a higher level of depression (P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: According to the findings of the present study, considering the mental health of HCWs during the generalized anxiety outbreak of COVID-19 should be a priority, and appropriate interventions should be planned to improve their psychological condition.

Insecure Employment Contracts during the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Need for Participation in Policy Making.

Job security influences the ability of nurses to provide high-quality nursing care. The Iranian health system has always faced nursing shortages, and the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened this situation. Although nurses have been labelled 'heroes' across the globe, many of them have been hired using insecure employment contracts. This commentary aims to describe issues surrounding job contracts for Iranian nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic and discusses how the current situation can be improved. Iranian nurses are at the frontline of the fight against COVID-19 and need to receive better support in terms of job security and dignity. They should participate more in policymaking activities to improve their job condition and prevent the development and implementation of the short-term and insecure job contracts that lead to job insecurity.

An extended hesitant fuzzy set using SWARA-MULTIMOORA approach to adapt online education for the control of the pandemic spread of COVID-19 in higher education institutions.

The world has been challenged since late 2019 by COVID-19. Higher education institutions have faced various challenges in adapting online education to control the pandemic spread of COVID-19. The present study aims to conduct a survey study through the interview and scrutinizing the literature to find the key challenges. Subsequently, an integrated MCDM framework, including Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) and Multiple Objective Optimization based on Ratio Analysis plus Full Multiplicative Form (MULTIMOORA), is developed. The SWARA procedure is applied to the analysis and assesses the challenges to adapt the online education during the COVID-19 outbreak, and the MULTIMOORA approach is utilized to rank the higher education institutions on hesitant fuzzy sets. Further, an illustrative case study is considered to express the proposed idea's feasibility and efficacy in real-world decision-making. Finally, the obtained result is compared with other existing approaches, confirming the proposed framework's strength and steadiness. The identified challenges were systemic, pedagogical, and psychological challenges, while the analysis results found that the pedagogical challenges, including the lack of experience and student engagement, were the main essential challenges to adapting online education in higher education institutions during the COVID-19 outbreak.

A novel extended approach under hesitant fuzzy sets to design a framework for assessing the key challenges of digital health interventions adoption during the COVID-19 outbreak.

In recent years, Digital Technologies (DTs) are becoming an inseparable part of human lives. Thus, many scholars have conducted research to develop new tools and applications. Processing information, usually in the form of binary code, is the main task in DTs, which is happening through many devices, including computers, smartphones, robots, and applications. Surprisingly, the role of DTs has been highlighted in people's life due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There are several different challenges to implement and intervene in DTs during the COVID-19 outbreak; therefore, the present study extended a new fuzzy approach under Hesitant Fuzzy Set (HFS) approach using Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) and Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS) method to evaluate and rank the critical challenges of DTs intervention to control the COVID-19 outbreak. In this regard, a comprehensive survey using literature and in-depth interviews have been carried out to identify the challenges under the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) framework. Moreover, the SWARA procedure is applied to analyze and assess the challenges to DTs intervention during the COVID-19 outbreak, and the WASPAS approach is utilized to rank the DTs under hesitant fuzzy sets. Further, to demonstrate the efficacy and practicability of the developed framework, an illustrative case study has been analyzed. The results of this study found that Health Information Systems (HIS) was ranked as the first factor among other factors followed by a lack of digital knowledge, digital stratification, economic interventions, lack of reliable data, and cost inefficiency In conclusion, to confirm the steadiness and strength of the proposed framework, the obtained outputs are compared with other methods.