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Objective: to examine the repercussions of the pandemic on the family system by focusing on the perspective of family members who contracted and experienced COVID-19. Method: an exploratory study with a qualitative approach conducted with 27 individuals who had COVID-19. Data collection took place through telephone interviews that were audio-recorded and guided by a semi-structured instrument. Data analysis was based on an inductive process supported by Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Results: the pandemic and illness of a family member acted as driving forces generating new and intense movements in the family system. Initially, they noticed negative repercussions such as concerns, fear, anguish, stress, distancing and social isolation. As time progressed and by using technologies to ease communication, they began to perceive positive repercussions such as increased proximity, strengthening of ties, development of new roles and care. The families also identified recovery of a balanced position, with return of certain readjustment in family dynamics and functioning. Conclusion: health professionals need to recognize that the COVID-19 disease has imposed repercussions on family systems, proposing interventions that help families face this moment and more easily recover a balanced position for their functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Aim: To determine the professional profile and the work conditions of nurses working in intensive care units (ICU) in Colombia, Argentina, Peru and Brazil. Background: ICUs require a differentiated professional profile to provide quality care, and appropriate working conditions, leading to a transformation of care and management practices. Design: Descriptive multicentre cross‐sectional observational study. Methods: An online survey was applied to identify both the characteristics of the professional profile and the working conditions. 1,427 ICU nursing professionals were included. RStudio statistical software was used for the analysis of the information. Descriptive statistics were used for the presentation of the results. The STROBE checklist for cross‐sectional studies was used in this study. Results: Only 33.6% of the professionals had a specialisation degree in intensive care. The skills that were most frequently put into practice were communication (68.5%) and care management (78.5%). The most predominant nurse‐to‐patient ratios were 1:2, and greater than 1:6. 59.1% of the nurses had an indefinite term contract, 38.8% worked 48 hours per week and 49.8% had rotating shifts. Only 50.4% of them received incentives. The average salary ranged between 348 and 1,500 USD. 64.5% of the participants were satisfied with their job. Conclusion: It is necessary to strengthen nurses' professional profile by promoting both postgraduate education and the development of troubleshooting and teamwork skills. It is necessary to standardise the nurse‐to‐patient ratio, improve wages and increase incentives to achieve greater job satisfaction. Relevance to practice: The knowledge and the improvement of both the professional profile and the work conditions of nurses working in intensive care units will improve the quality of the care given to critical patients and, therefore, the quality of health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: to describe experiences of nurses and doctors of Emergency Care Units in coping with the Covid-19 pandemic. Method: descriptive-exploratory study with a qualitative approach, conducted with seven doctors and seven nurses working in two Emergency Care Units, reference for Covid-19. The interviews took place between September and November 2020 and were guided by a semi-structured questionnaire. The statements were recorded, transcribed and submitted to Content Analysis. Results: two categories of analysis emerged: "We feel exhausted": the experience of nurses and doctors and Strategies to face the mishaps in the pandemic context. Final considerations: the professionals experienced several challenges, such as lack of institutional protocol, lack of physical structure, material, human resources and training, difficulty in sensitizing the population and concern to contaminate oneself and the family. However, they relied on different strategies, such as preventive self-isolation, family support, exchange of experiences with other professionals and keeping up to date on the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cleaning and disinfection processes must be improved so that there is a reduction in environmental contamination of frequent-contact surfaces. The objective of this study was to evaluate cleaning and disinfection of surfaces at a specialized healthcare unit after an intervention program.Methods: Exploratory, longitudinal, and correlational study carried out in a medium-complexity clinic. Two hundred and forty samples from five surfaces were collected during three phases: diagnosis; implementation of an intervention program; and evaluation of immediate and long-term effects. In total, 720 evaluations were made, performed through three monitoring methods: visual inspection; adenosine triphosphate bioluminescence assay (ATP); and aerobic colony count (ACC). The Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney, and Fisher's Exact tests were run to analyze data statistically.Results: Cleaning and disinfection of surfaces were not being performed properly in most cases. Failure rates of surfaces reached 37.5 and 100% when the ATP and ACC procedures were used, respectively. However, after an intervention program, an improvement occurred. Success rates increased by 43.96% (ATP) and 12.46% (ACC) in phase I, by 70.6% (ATP) and 82.3% (ACC) immediately after interventions, and by 76.52% (ATP) and 85.76% (ACC) two months after the changes, showing that the program was effective.Conclusion: The present study reveals that implementing intervention actions with a cleaning and healthcare team brings benefits to prevent the spread of pathogenic agents through frequently touched hospital surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]