Nursing professionals in the ICU and their role in the pandemic: Legacies of Covid-19

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the performance of nursing professionals in the Intensive Care Unit, considering their role in assisting patients with COVID-19 and the legacies of this pandemic so far. METHOD: Systematic review based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis protocol. Publications in Portuguese, English and Spanish from the last 2 years (2019-2020) were considered, indexed in the Biblioteca Virtual do Ministério da Saúde of Brazil, PubMed, Cochrane Central and Web Of Science. RESULTS: 14 articles were selected for data analysis. The role of nursing professionals in combating COVID-19 is a consensus in different countries, with emphasis on their role as the front line and the need to adapt to an unprecedented context, dealing with the unknown and with frequent research that pointed to new discoveries. As future implications in the face of the current pandemic, factors such as greater appreciation of nursing professionals, including the use of intensive care professionals and anesthesiologists, diversification of forms of communication, better self-management and management of teams, and tele-care in nursing care were found. CONCLUSION: The pandemic brought by COVID-19 highlighted the role of nurses. With changes and adaptations requiring new protocols and forms of assistance, they can be considered as legacies.