Percepção dos profissionais de enfermagem sobre o uso dos equipamentos de proteção individual na emergência

Abstract

Introduction: When patients are received in the emergency room, so‑metimes without pre‑established diagnoses, they need care. Thus, every patient must be considered potentially contaminated, and because of this, the occupational risks of nursing workers can become high, especially when they do not use Personal Protective Equipment properly. It is known that the use of equipment is more frequent in patient care whose diagnosis is known. In order to preserve the lives of patients, professionals tend to neglect protective measures, exposing themselves to the pertinent risks of this care. Objective: to identify the perception of nursing professionals about the occupational risks to which they are exposed and the use of PPE in the emergency service. Methods: Quantitative qualitative study with 13 nursing professionals through interviews in February and March 2019. The analysis of quantitative data was performed using statistics; qualitative data were examined by Bardin’s content analysis. Results: Most of the professionals who participated in the study were nursing technicians (54%) and 69% of the professionals (nurses and nursing technicians) worked in the area for a period greater than or equal to 10 years. Four thematic categories were delimited. Conclusion: The perception of professionals reflects deficits in preventing the safety of the team and requires the expansion of continuing education. Furthermore, the role of nurses in minimizing occupational risks and the availability of personal protective equipment in strategic places, with easy access, is emphasized, as a way to streamli‑ne its use in the emergency service.