Spanish nurses’ experiences with personal protective equipment and perceptions of risk of contagion from COVID‐19: A qualitative rapid appraisal

Abstract

Aims and Objetives Explore nurses' experiences and perception of risk regarding the use of personal protective equipment during the first wave of the pandemic in Spain. Background The contribution of our study is to use qualitative methods to understand nurses' experiences and perceptions of the risk of the contagion linked to the shortage of PPE during the first wave of the pandemic, whose explosive start strained health systems around the globe. Design Qualitative descriptive design according to the Rapid Research Evaluation and Appraisal model. Methods Semi‐structured videoconference interviews were conducted to explore the experiences of 29 nurses including staff nurses, nursing supervisors and nursing directors from hospital and community services of the Spanish health system. Interviews lasted 30–45 min and were conducted in May 2020. We carried out a thematic analysis using Dedoose. The COREQ checklist was used to report findings. Results We identified the following themes and subthemes: 1. Experiences with personal protective equipment: scarcity, inequality, reutilization, self‐protection, delegation of responsibility, and gap between protocols and reality; 2. Perception of the risk of contagion: lack of credibility, lack of trust, lack of support, and meeting subjective needs. Conclusions The scarcity of personal protective equipment and inequality in its distribution led nurses to take initiatives to feel more protected. Mid‐ranking supervisors were caught between the responsibility of monitoring and rationing personal protective equipment and providing the necessary protection to nurses. The disjuncture between protocols and the available supply of personal protective equipment caused confusion. Lack of credibility, lack of trust and lack of support from management influenced participants' perception of the risk of contagion. Mid‐ranking supervisors were often responsible for trying to alleviate fear among nursing staff. Relevance to clinical practice Understanding the factors involved in risk perception can be helpful to decision‐makers who help protect nurses in clinical practice. These results can help administrators and policymakers because they point to the need for nurses to feel that their departments and centers look after their safety at work. Transparent communication and emotional support may contribute to their well‐being in the face of risk.

Estrategias de afrontamiento ante la crisis sanitaria: un estudio comparativo en enfermeros de costa y sierra ecuatoriana

“…No se hallaron diferencias entre enfermeras de la costa o la sierra respecto al miedo al contagio. Estos resultados son consistentes con los encontrados por otros investigadores (Meisenhelder & La Charite, 1989;Bennett, 1998;Montes et al,2021;Salvatierra Ávila et al,2021;Valencia González et al, 2021;Romeu et al, 2022).…”

“…(Ávila et al,2021) Esto puede vincularse a nuestros resultados. Las enfermeras que trabajan en equipo durante la crisis sanitaria tienen un nivel de prevalencia de percepción de riesgo muy significativamente más bajo, creemos este resultado también puede explicarse si se tiene en cuenta lo planteado por Romeu et al, (2022), quienes encontraron que la gravedad de la escasez de equipo de protección personal enfermeras y otros profesionales sanitarios afectados durante la primera ola de la pandemia en España, la reutilización de equipos de protección personal se relacionó con la percepción de riesgo entre las enfermeras españolas.…”

“…Las enfermeras que prefieren trabajar en equipo durante la crisis sanitaria tienen probabilidad alrededor de 0,30 más bajas, lo que puede interpretarse como un factor protector. Otros resultados presentados por Romeu et al, (2022) indican que la falta de credibilidad de los administradores de salud se debió a la falta de claridad en los protocolos y veracidad sobre el riesgo de infección por SARS-CoV-2 y cómo prevenirlo. La carencia de protocolos específicos y la existencia de contradicciones entre los diferentes protocolos generó confusión y sensación de inseguridad entre los participantes.…”

The Mediating Role of the Anxiety Level in the Effect of Trusting Co-Workers on Helping Behaviours to Co-Workers During Covid-19 Pandemic

“…Beal et al (2020) state that during the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare team members had to rely on each other to make the right decisions quickly to save many lives under harsh working conditions. Romeu Labayen et al (2021) found in their study that nurses felt a lack of trust in management when they saw that management was more concerned with allocating equipment rather than their safety.…”

Healthcare students’ experience of personal protective equipment shortages during COVID‐19

“…We read, with great interest, the article by Romeu-Labayen 'Spanish nurses' experiences with personal protective equipment and perceptions of risk of contagion from COVID-19' (Romeu-Labayen et al, 2021). As medical students in the United Kingdom (UK), we would like to share our experiences of personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages and highlight how the issues expressed in the paper were felt beyond the nursing community.…”