The COVID-19 pandemic and nurses' attitudes toward death.

Maria Filomena Passos Teixeira Cardoso,Maria Manuela Ferreira Pereira Da Silva Martins Martins,Esmeralda Faria Fonseca,Letícia De Lima Trindade,Olga Maria Pimenta Lopes Ribeiro

doi:10.1590/1518.8345.4769.3448

Abstract

Objective:to analyze nurses’ attitudes toward death in a hospital context after the critical period of the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal.Method:this quantitative, descriptive, exploratory study was conducted in a university hospital and addressed 995 nurses. Revised Death Attitude Profile (DAP-R) was used to collect data, which were analyzed using analytical and inferential statistics.Results:the nurses most frequently agreed with the statements concerning the Neutral/Neutrality Acceptance and Fear. Age, marital status, profession, and unit of work influenced the nurses’ attitudes toward death. During the critical pandemic period, the nurses providing care to patients with COVID-19 presented the following means: Fear (28.89/±8.521) and Avoidance Acceptance (18.35/±7.116), which were higher than the mean obtained in the Escape Acceptance dimension, with significant differences (p=0.004).Conclusion:the nurses held Fear and Avoidance attitudes, revealing the need to qualify and support Nursing workers to cope with the death of those they provide care and manage pandemics and catastrophes.

Highlights

The COVID-19 pandemic changed our lives and brought about much uncertainty, changing the practice of workers, significantly altering the experiences and functioning of organizations[1,2]
In the Portuguese context, the Directorate General of Health, Ministry of Health, and the government itself approved various guidelines, imposing the schools to interrupt its activities, prohibiting visitation and companions in hospitals and other public institutions, suspending the vacation of health workers, and providing orientations regarding the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) appropriate to the various situations and services[4]
This study, which is part of a more extensive investigation addressing the topic since 2017, is intended to analyze nurses’ attitudes toward death in a hospital context after the critical period of the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal. This quantitative, descriptive, exploratory and crosssectional study was conducted in a University Hospital Center (UHC) located in the north of Portugal

Summary

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic changed our lives and brought about much uncertainty, changing the practice of workers, significantly altering the experiences and functioning of organizations[1,2]. In the Portuguese context, the Directorate General of Health, Ministry of Health, and the government itself approved various guidelines, imposing the schools to interrupt its activities, prohibiting visitation and companions in hospitals and other public institutions, suspending the vacation of health workers, and providing orientations regarding the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) appropriate to the various situations and services[4]. Even though these guidelines enabled standardizing procedures in all Portuguese hospitals, successfully responding to the growing number of COVID-19 cases depended on preparing competent and differentiated health care[3]. The hospital addressed in this study implemented adaptations to meet the community’s and workers’ needs, the epidemiological profile of cases, beds occupation and clinical guidelines as they emerged

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion