Effect of Using a Technology-Based (Mobile Health) Nursing Protocol on Positive COVID-19 Patients' Dyspnea and Level of Activity.

ABSTRACT

Nursing faced a challenge in caring for COVID-19 patients in terms of keeping their chests clear from secretions, which required much effort from already-exhausted patients, along with the tasks of minimizing dyspnea and cough, strengthening immunity status, and improving their activity levels. The present study aimed to evaluate improvement of dyspnea and activity levels after 1 week of applying a mobile health nursing protocol for positive COVID-19 patients. The study was conducted in quarantine hospitals in Cairo on 90 COVID-19-positive patients who agreed to participate in the study, were fully conscious, were themselves able to use mobile phone applications (or their accompanying relatives were), and were not in need of artificial ventilation. A self-administered online questionnaire was utilized via Google forms to collect data. Patients who agreed to participate in the study received a video on their WhatsApp application containing audio and visual explanations of how they would apply the nursing intervention protocol. The study's findings showed that the best level of dyspnea was only 10.59% of the sample prior to applying the nursing protocol and increased to 20.00% of the sample after applying the nursing protocol. Also, the highest level of activity was only 50.59% pre-protocol and increased post-protocol to become 70.59%.