Coping with COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit admission.
Mariane Carolina de Almeida, Maria Itayra Padilha, Maria Lígia Dos Reis Bellaguarda and 2 others
PMID 42524975WHAT IT FOUND
Survivors of COVID-19 intensive care described lasting fatigue, breathlessness, memory problems, anxiety and depression.
They valued nurses' comforting words, touch, listening and monitoring, and said the experience made them cherish health, family and simple daily moments.
Key findings
01ICU survivors reported physical and psychological effects after COVID-19, including fatigue, breathing difficulties, memory loss, cognitive slowness, anxiety and depression.
02Participants described nursing care as humanized through words of comfort, encouragement and hope, caring touches, attentive gazes and listening during changing clothes, feeding and monitoring vital signs.
03Participants said the ICU experience increased the value they placed on health, family and simple everyday moments, and motivated changes in lifestyle.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study included only ten participants from one city and one university hospital, so the themes may not represent other settings or cultures. Participants were interviewed in 2023 or 2024 about ICU stays in 2020 or 2021, so accounts depend on recall. People with cognitive impairments that prevented interview participation were excluded, so some survivors may not be represented. The design is qualitative and describes experiences, not measured effects of nursing care, coping strategies or post-COVID outcomes. The paper reports anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress symptoms in the results, but later states post-traumatic stress was not diagnosed or reported, so the psychological findings are not clearly defined.
Declared interests
Funding was reported from the UNIEDU scholarship program of the State Government of Santa Catarina and from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) researcher productivity grant program. No other conflicts of interest are stated in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that humanized nursing, coping strategies or lifestyle changes improve post-COVID outcomes. It is a small qualitative study of ten patients' experiences, not a test of effects.