Disaster Preparedness and Hospital Safety in State Hospitals in Lima (Peru)

Abstract

Introduction: Peru’s health infrastructures, particularly hospitals, are exposed to disaster threats of different natures. Traditionally, earthquakes have been the main disaster in terms of physical and structural vulnerability, but the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has also shown their functional vulnerability. Public hospitals in Lima are very different in terms of year constructed, type of construction, and number of floors, making them highly vulnerable to earthquakes. In addition, they are subject to a high demand for care daily. Therefore, if a major earthquake were to occur in Lima, the hospitals would not have the capacity to respond to the high demand. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the Hospital Safety Index (HSI) in hospitals in Lima (Peru). Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study of 18 state-run hospitals that met the inclusion criteria; open access data were collected for the indicators proposed by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Version 1. Associations between variables were calculated using the chi-square test, considering a confidence level of 95%. A P value less than .05 was considered to determine statistical significance. Results: The average bed occupancy rate was 90%, the average age was 70 years, on average had one bed per 25,126 inhabitants, and HSI average score was 0.36 with a vulnerability of 0.63. No association was found between HSI and hospital characteristics. Conclusion: Most of the hospitals were considered Category C in earthquake and disaster safety, and only one hospital was Category A. The hospital situation needs to be clarified, and the specific deficiencies of each institution need to be identified and addressed according to their own characteristics and context.

Perceptions, maltreatment and religion as predictors of the psycho-emotional impact on nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…It is important to highlight that there is a discrepancy in reporting the directionality of the relationship between length of work experience and psycho-emotional impact. While in Turkey (22) and Peru (8) they found that there is a direct relationship, in the United States they indicate that there is an inverse correlation (23) . Therefore, it is necessary to continue carrying out other studies to clarify this relationship.…”

“…Likewise, in The COVID-19 Health Care Workers Study (HEROES), carried out in 2020 in 26 countries, it was highlighted that approximately a quarter of health professionals manifested depressive symptoms, that is, about 15% considered committing suicide (7) . In Peru, 39.1% of nurses had anxiety, while 24.6% had depression and only 8.8% had stress (8) .…”

“…Most studies that analyzed the factors associated with stress, anxiety and depression in nurses in times of COVID-19 coincided in pointing out their association with gender, age and having been diagnosed with this disease (3)(4)8,20) . However, there is discrepancy in the association of psycho-emotional impact with length of professional experience, while a study points to a direct relationship with stress (21) , anxiety and depression (22) , another study indicates an indirect correlation (23) and another one indicates that there is no association (5) .…”

Evaluation of usability and acceptability of Telemental health service among vulnerable occupational workers: A formative study based on user-centered design (Preprint)

“…There has been a reported prevalence of depression and anxiety of 16.2% and 27.3% among teachers, 19.6% and 17.3% in police officers, and 24.6% and 39.1% in healthcare workers, respectively, during the pandemic. Therefore, the sequels in these vulnerable occupational groups might represent a higher burden of professional illnesses in its economic sector [13,14,16].…”

Estrés y percepción del profesional de enfermería durante la pandemia de COVID-19 en un hospital peruano

“…5 La pandemia por COVID-19 no solo repercute en la salud física, también ha ocasionado el incremento de problemas de salud mental, especialmente en los profesionales de enfermería que se han visto expuestos a situaciones laborales muy complicadas sumadas al abarrotamiento de ansiedad y estrés vividos en los servicios de emergencia. 6 El estrés que enfrentan los profesionales de enfermería durante la pandemia no solo proviene de la carga de trabajo y las condiciones laborales difíciles, sino también de la preocupación constante por su propia salud y la de sus seres queridos. Esta tensión adicional puede tener un impacto significativo en la percepción y toma de decisiones de los enfermeros, ya que el agotamiento físico y emocional puede afectar su capacidad para evaluar de manera objetiva y precisa la situación clínica.…”