Working conditions of intensive care unit nurses and quality of care during the pandemic: a qualitative study.

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in patient demand was observed in intensive care units, as well as a deterioration of working conditions and quality of care.

Objectives: To analyze the working conditions of the nursing staff of an intensive care unit in the city of Medellín during the COVID-19 pandemic and their relationship with the quality of nursing care.

Methods: A qualitative study was developed in the adult intensive care unit of a third-level health care institution in the city of Medellin, Colombia. In-depth interviews were conducted with nine nursing professionals. The analysis was carried out in parallel with the collection of information throughout the research with the support of the qualitative data research software Atlas.ti.

Results: The two central categories of this research were working conditions and quality of care. A dialogic relationship was observed between the two central categories of this research (working conditions and quality of care), in which good working conditions configured good quality of care. Similarly, as phenomena such as tiredness, fatigue, and work overload were observed, professionals described a subjective decrease in quality of care with a higher incidence of adverse events, absenteeism, and cost overruns.

Conclusions: The deterioration of working conditions, particularly the work overload experienced by nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic, had direct consequences on their health and well-being, as well as on patient safety, quality of care, and health care institution costs.