Sociodemographic profile, diagnoses and nursing care in post-COVID-19 patients in a Brazilian university hospital.
Evelyn Klein Dos Santos, Fernando Riegel, Jhonatan Tyson Barros Azevedo and 5 others
PMID 37531483WHAT IT FOUND
Most nursing diagnoses and care plans for post-COVID-19 patients focused on physical safety and infection risks.
Psychosocial and spiritual needs were rarely documented, leaving a gap in holistic care for this population.
Key findings
01The most prevalent nursing diagnoses were Impaired Physiological Balance Syndrome (77.3%), Risk for Infection (48%), and Risk for Falls (46.5%).
02Nearly half of all prescribed nursing care procedures related to infection prevention, with aerosol and droplet precautions being the most common.
03The study identified an overvaluation of psychobiological needs compared to psychospiritual and psychosocial needs, which were rarely addressed in care plans.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study relied entirely on existing medical records, so any undocumented care or diagnoses were missed. Results are from a single university hospital in Brazil, limiting generalizability to other settings or populations. The cross-sectional nature of the record review prevents determining causality or long-term outcomes.
Declared interests
No conflicts of interest or specific funding sources were declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the high prevalence of physical risk diagnoses as evidence that these patients had no psychosocial needs. The low documentation rates reflect what nurses recorded, not necessarily the full scope of patient experiences.