Enfrentamento da pandemia Covid-19: perspectivas de enfermeiros da unidade de terapia intensiva e gestores de um hospital de campanha

Abstract

This is a descriptive and interpretative study, developed in a field hospital, in the metropolitan region of Goiânia, Goiás. The study aimed to understand the experience of intensive care unit nurses and managers in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. 16 health professionals participated; eight assistant nurses, eight managers, among them, five nurses, a social worker, a biomedical and a doctor. The age ranged from 26 to 47 years. Most were female (14; 87.5%), with the title of specialist in intensive care (13; 81%) and with more than five years of professional experience (14; 87.5%). Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews mediated by the Zoom Meetings videoconferencing system. Through the interpretative thematic analysis, five themes were identified: Working with the unknown - uncertainty, unpreparedness and fear"; Dealing with death - "very remarkable hours"; Work overload - "war situation"; Field hospital management - "a challenge every day" and; Being on the front line: "priceless". Both ICU nurses and managers revealed that coping with COVID-19 brought feelings related to uncertainty, fear and insecurity in the face of unpreparedness to care. The pandemic had a strong impact on the team, especially as they were dealing with an unknown disease, "not knowing how to treat it", "not having a protocol and drugs with proven evidence" for the treatment and management of the disease. Despite being used to dealing with death, they declared themselves unprepared to face the volume of deaths that COVID-19 brought. They described it as something very sad that generated suffering, anguish, despair, and triggered psychological problems. They reported how challenging and exhausting it is to face the pandemic, since they worked much more than usual, resulting in the stress, discouragement and demotivation of the team. There was an exponential increase in the workload, with a war situation. The managers described the structural and organizational challenges and the need to implement strategies to deal with the stress and emotional suffering of the teams, as well as the management of professional conflicts in the face of the team's fear and insecurity in this process. All described that being on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic represented an opportunity for personal and professional growth and development. Even in the face of the difficulties mentioned, the professionals described the strengthening and appreciation of teamwork, emphasizing the importance of all. They also highlighted that the lived experience strengthened empathy, compassion and humanization, the recognition of the need of the other, as well as the appreciation of teamwork, horizontality and importance of the different roles. The results pointed to the need for health organizations, professionals and leaders to redefine and strengthen organizational structures for coping and managing crisis situations, with strategies that favor the continuing education of professionals to deal with catastrophic situations such as the one experienced. in the early period of the pandemic