Covid-19 and personal protective equipment: The experience of nurses engaged in care of Sars-Cov-2 patients: A phenomenological study

Ignazio Roberto Terranova; Tatiana Bolgeo; Roberta Di Matteo; Denise Gatti; Francesca Gambalunga; Antonio Maconi; Annamaria Bagnasco; Milko Zanini

doi:10.1111/jonm.13837

Covid-19 and personal protective equipment: The experience of nurses engaged in care of Sars-Cov-2 patients: A phenomenological study

J Nurs Manag. 2022 Nov;30(8):4034-4041. doi: 10.1111/jonm.13837. Epub 2022 Oct 11.

Authors

Ignazio Roberto Terranova¹, Tatiana Bolgeo², Roberta Di Matteo², Denise Gatti², Francesca Gambalunga³, Antonio Maconi², Annamaria Bagnasco⁴, Milko Zanini⁴

Affiliations

¹ Presidium City of Alessandria Clinic and Salus Clinic-Monza Polyclinic, Alessandria, Italy.
² SC Research Training Innovation Infrastructure, Department of Research and Innovation, National Hospital SS Antonio and Biagio and Cesare Arrigo, Alessandria, Italy.
³ Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Rome, Italy.
⁴ Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.

Abstract

Aim: The study aims to explore the experiences of nurses who have worked in Covid-19 wards providing care for Covid-19 patients.

Background: During the Covid-19 pandemic, personal protective equipment (PPE) was considered an effective and guaranteed protective measure.

Methods: This is a descriptive qualitative study with thematically analysed interviews. Twelve nurses working (specify context) were interviewed.

Result: Three themes emerged from interviews: (1) confidence with PPE used during the Covid-19 crisis, (2) training in the use of PPE and (3) technical requirements for PPE.

Conclusions: This study clarified the importance of PPE quality and choice in establishing comfort for nurses and providing better patient care. These results could suggest useful elements to improve the PPE products by making them more comfortable for health care workers.

Implications for nursing management: Our results are important to promote and suggest prevention measures that are as comfortable and suitable as possible for health workers involved in the Covid-19 emergency, and also for potential future similar crises.

Keywords: Covid-19; nurses; personal protective equipment; safety.

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Health Personnel
Humans
Nurses*
Pandemics / prevention & control
Personal Protective Equipment
SARS-CoV-2