Characteristics and practice management of intensive care for patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019

Objective To explore and analyze the characteristics and causes of intensive nursing needs of patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019. Methods This was a cross-sectional study. Severe or critical patients’ treatment and care information were extracted through the HIS system in a designated hospital of critical patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019. We used statistical descriptions to analyze patient general information, nursing degree, therapeutic intensive care needs. The chi-square test or Fisher's exact test was used to analyze the differences between characteristics of patients and nursing degree. Results A total of 1849 cases of severe and critical patients were collected, including special grade nursing care 697 (37.70%), grade I nursing care (62.30%) . There were 893 (48.30%) patients aged ≥65 years, and 853 (46.13%) patients with one or more complications. All patients required the nursing routine of infection department, and the therapeutic intensive care followed was vein blood collection (99.62%), oxygen inhalation (98.92%), oral medication (98.65%), finger pulse oxygen monitoring (77.07%) and pharyngeal swab collection (71.93%).The nursing degree of patients with different gender, age, admission mode, body position and complications were statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusions The intensive care needs of patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 are complex, which are special in treatment, life and psychology, and the tasks of nursing are heavy, difficult and professional. Special attention should be paid to elderly patients and patients with complications. Our hospital has established the temporary nursing department in the period of COVID-19 outbreak, unified the coordination of nursing manpower and quality of nursing management, and set up a nursing expert consultation team to further enhance the quality of care for critical patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019. Key words: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19); Intensive care; Nursing degree; Nursing workload