COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of Health Effects on Emergency Service Nursing Workers via a Qualitative Approach

Elaine Cristine da Conceição Vianna, Raquel Veiga Baptista, Raquel Silva Gomes, Gabrielle Silva Pereira, Giovanna Costa Guimarães, Magda Guimarães de Araujo Faria, João Silvestre Silva-Junior, Marcelia Cristina de Oliveira, Luana Cardoso Pestana, Daniela Campos de Andrade Lourenção, Mirian Cristina dos Santos Almeida, Vivian Aline Mininel, Silmar Maria da Silva, Aline Coutinho Sento Sé and Cristiane Helena Gallasch ()
Additional contact information
Elaine Cristine da Conceição Vianna: Nursing School, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 20551-030, RJ, Brazil
Raquel Veiga Baptista: Nursing School, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 20551-030, RJ, Brazil
Raquel Silva Gomes: Nursing School, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 20551-030, RJ, Brazil
Gabrielle Silva Pereira: Nursing School, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 20551-030, RJ, Brazil
Giovanna Costa Guimarães: Nursing School, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 20551-030, RJ, Brazil
Magda Guimarães de Araujo Faria: Department of Public Health Nursing, Nursing School, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 20551-030, RJ, Brazil
João Silvestre Silva-Junior: Department of Medicine, Centro Universitário São Camilo, São Paulo 04262-200, SP, Brazil
Marcelia Cristina de Oliveira: Nursing School, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 20551-030, RJ, Brazil
Luana Cardoso Pestana: Hospital Federal Cardoso Fontes, Ministério da Saúde, Rio de Janeiro 22745-130, RJ, Brazil
Daniela Campos de Andrade Lourenção: Nursing School, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo 05403-000, SP, Brazil
Mirian Cristina dos Santos Almeida: Nursing Undergraduation Course, Universidade Federal do Tocantins, Palmas 77001-092, TO, Brazil
Vivian Aline Mininel: Department of Nursing, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos 13565-905, SP, Brazil
Silmar Maria da Silva: Department of Basic Nursing, School of Nursing, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 30130-100, MG, Brazil
Aline Coutinho Sento Sé: Hospital Federal Cardoso Fontes, Ministério da Saúde, Rio de Janeiro 22745-130, RJ, Brazil
Cristiane Helena Gallasch: Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing, Nursing School, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 20551-030, RJ, Brazil

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 6, 1-14

Abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic, longstanding issues involving nursing work, which has always involved significant risks of illness and infection, were intensified. It is necessary to acknowledge the risks and nurses’ perceptions about the risks qualitatively during the period of the health crisis. The aim of this study was to examine the health repercussions perceived by nursing workers in emergency services during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. This was a qualitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study. The settings of the study were emergency services with a national scope; the participants were nursing workers. Data were collected via face-to-face virtual calling interviews and analyzed via a content analysis technique, which was supported by IRAMUTEQ software. The formation of textual classes pointed in three thematic directions, from which three categories emerged: nursing workers’ exposure, due to a lack of protective equipment, to the risk of being contaminated with, falling ill from, and transmitting the COVID-19 virus; changes in work environments, processes, and relations in response to the pandemic; and physical, mental, and psychosocial alterations perceived by emergency service nursing workers. The exposure to the virus, risk of contamination, and changes in the work environment and relations all resulted in health repercussions, which were perceived as physical, mental, and psychosocial alterations that were described as dietary disturbances, physical fatigue, burnout, increased smoking, anxiety, sleep alterations, fear, exhaustion, stress, social isolation, loneliness, distancing from relatives, and social stigma.

Keywords: workers’ health; occupational exposure; nursing workers; hospital emergency services; COVID-19; illness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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