COVID‐19 impact on nurses in Spain: a considered opinion survey

Abstract

Aim: To survey nurses' opinions about their work conditions at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. Background: For the Spanish General Council of Nursing (the Consejo General de Enfermer ıa de España), it was essential to have information on nursing workforce conditions and nurses' preparedness to wear protective measures at the pandemic's onset. The coronavirus outbreak was believed to have started in China and rapidly spread as a global pandemic requiring policies and actions for planning emergency healthcare delivery. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted online. Data were collected during April 2020 and covered social demography, working conditions, training, availability of personal protective equipment, and nurses' health conditions, including the impact of COVID-19. Findings: From all national territories in Spain, 11 560 registered nurses from different services completed the questionnaire. Findings indicated that the lack of personal protective equipment was a crucial issue, as well as service planning and organization, and 80.2% reported high or very high psychological impact of COVID-19. Alarmingly, 29.5% of the nurses reported COVID-19 symptoms. Of these 23.3% had been tested, and 30.2% were confirmed as being positive to the virus. The nurses deemed proper preparedness for emergencies and disasters as a significant concern. Conclusion: Nurses' responses showed evidence of health services deficiencies as a source of damage to their capacity to provide safe patient care and protect themselves and their families' health. The working conditions of the nurses are at critical levels and are unacceptable. The study results provide evidence regarding the necessity of suitable planning and actions being taken to enable safe patient care and safety for nurses. Implications for Nursing and Health Policy: Our survey gathered nurses' views at the pandemic's onset. The evidence gathered is being used to advise policymakers and nursing organizations to take actions to control public health risks to populations. It is necessary that more investment in growing nursing workforce expertise and health infrastructure for pandemic and epidemic emergencies is provided.

Experiences and perceptions of Turkish intensive care nurses providing care to Covid‐19 patients: A qualitative study

“…The feeling of being pushed outside of society seems to contradict the common perception of healthcare workers being seen as heroes during the pandemic. Other studies conducted in Spain, Italy and USA reported that nurses do not want to be perceived as heroes and receive applause from balconies, but they look for recognition of their hard work and improvements to their working conditions (Fontanini et al., 2021; Labrague & Santos, 2020; Perez‐Raya et al., 2021; Shah et al., 2021; Turale & Nantsupawat, 2021). Similarly, the ICU nurses in this study expressed that they want to be valued and financially compensated for their hard work and the work‐related risks they encounter.…”

Mental health of Spanish nurses working during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A cross‐sectional study

“…It should be noted that Spain already had a worrying shortage of nurses before the pandemic, as it had a 31% deficit in the number of nurses compared with the average for the European Union (574 vs 802 nurses/100, 000 inhabitants) (Arévalo‐Manso, 2019 ). The pandemic has further aggravated the situation due to the high number of patients infected with COVID‐19 (ECDC, 2021 ), along with the shortage of nurses and deficiencies in health services (Castro‐Sánchez & Santillán‐García, 2020 ), increased job demands and workload, resulting in distress and a significant psychological impact on nurses (Pérez‐Raya et al., 2021 ).…”

Hospitalization, death, and probable reinfection in Peruvian healthcare workers infected with SARS-CoV-2: a national retrospective cohort study

“…It should be noted that the metaanalysis carried out by Gholami included 119,883 healthcare workers infected with SARS-CoV-2 and that carried out by Gómez-Ochoa included 96,813; whereas the Peruvian health worker cohort alone included 90,672 infected healthcare workers. This shows in absolute terms the great affectation of Peruvian healthcare workers by the pandemic, not only due to the high workload, continuous exposure, and lack of personal protective equipment (mainly at the beginning of the pandemic); but also due to the informal nature of work and the worsening labor conditions observed in various countries since before the pandemic, particularly those with low and medium income [23][24][25][26] .…”