Skin damage due to personal protective equipment among nursing staff in a dedicated coronavirus disease-2019 hospital of tribal India

Abstract

Background: Nursing staff are at much greater risk of infection (Ebola virus diseases and severe acute respiratory syndrome) due to their exposure to highly infectious bodily fluids and droplet nuclei and the need for personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce the transmission risk. Aim: The present study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of skin injuries and their types due to PPE usage among nursing staff in tribal India. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the dedicated coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) hospital for a period of 4 months among 144 nursing staff wearing Grade 2 and 3 PPE kits. Study subjects were approached through social networking websites and survey questionnaires (Google forms) according to relevant guides, and research literature was used to collect the details regarding baseline, duty, and skin injury characterization. Chi-square test was used to find the association between skin injury and baseline or duty characteristics, and the association was significant at a P < 0.05. Results: It was observed that 54.7% of nursing staff were working for 6 or more hours and 16.5% of subjects were wearing the PPE kit for 5 or more hours per day. Skin injury was reported by 86.3% of the subjects after using PPE. Skin injuries among nurses were statistically significant with their current place of stay and daily duty hours (P < 0.05). Conclusion: In this study, it was found that 86.3% of subjects had suffered from skin injuries by using PPE while caring for COVID-19 patients during duty hours, so an effective preventive measure should be adopted.