Publications
>
Article

Nurses' perceptions and demands regarding COVID-19 care delivery in critical care units and hospital emergency services

Publicated to:Intensive and Critical Care Nursing. 62 102966- - 2021-02-01 62(), DOI: 10.1016/j.iccn.2020.102966

Authors: Teresa Gonzalez-Gil, Maria; Gonzalez-Blazquez, Cristina; Isabel Parro-Moreno, Ana; Pedraz-Marcos, Azucena; Palmar-Santos, Ana; Otero-Garcia, Laura; Victoria Navarta-Sanchez, Maria; Teresa Alcolea-Cosin, Maria; Argueello-Lopez, Maria Teresa; Canalejas-Perez, Coro; Elena Carrillo-Camacho, Maria; Lourdes Casillas-Santana, Maria; Luisa Diaz-Martinez, Maria; Garcia-Gonzalez, Asuncion; Garcia-Perea, Eva; Martinez-Marcos, Mercedes; Luisa Martinez-Martin, Maria; Del Pilar Palazuelos-Puerta, Maria; Sellan-Soto, Carmen; Oter-Quintana, Cristina

Affiliations

Autonomous Univ Madrid, Dept Nursing, Fac Med, Arzobispo Morcillo 4, Madrid 28029, Spain - Author

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health challenge that puts health systems in a highly vulnerable situation. Nurses in critical care units (CCUs) and hospital emergency services (HESs) have provided care to patients with COVID-19 under pressure and uncertainty. Objective: To identify needs related to safety, organisation, decision-making, communication and psychosocio-emotional needs perceived by critical care and emergency nurses in the region of Madrid, Spain, during the acute phase of the epidemic crisis. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study (the first phase of a mixed methods study) with critical care and emergency nurses from 26 public hospitals in Madrid using an online questionnaire. Results: The response rate was 557, with 37.5% reporting working with the fear of becoming infected and its consequences, 28.2% reported elevated workloads, high patient-nurse ratios and shifts that did not allow them to disconnect or rest, while taking on more responsibilities when managing patients with COVID-19 (23.9%). They also reported deficiencies in communication with middle management (21.2%), inability to provide psycho-social care to patients and families and being emotionally exhausted (53.5%), with difficulty in venting emotions (44.9%). Conclusions: Critical care and emegency nurses may be categorised as a vulnerable population. It is thus necessary to delve deeper into further aspects of their experiences of the pandemic. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 68.12, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions May 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-05-19, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 157
  • Scopus: 171
  • Europe PMC: 102
  • OpenCitations: 165
Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-05-19:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 690.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 687 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 27.98.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 24 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (GONZALEZ GIL, MARIA TERESA) and Last Author (OTER QUINTANA, CRISTINA).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been GONZALEZ GIL, MARIA TERESA.