[Covid-19 protections and social life limitations in nursing homes - Analysis of prescriptions and survey data]

["…Not Even in The Corridor!" - Subjective Perception Of Institutional Measures During The Covid-19 Pandemic Of Nursing Home Residents: A Qualitative Study]

BACKGROUND

In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, institutional measures were decreed to protect nursing home residents from infection. Their appropriateness has been a subject of controversy. The aim of this work was to better understand the subjective perception of the protective measures during the Covid-19 pandemic by the nursing home residents in Bavaria and to shed light on the role of nursing staff and general practitioners in coping with the crisis.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with residents of inpatient long-term care facilities. Data analysis was carried out by means of structured content analysis according to Kuckartz.

RESULTS

A total of ten nursing home residents with various degrees of care were interviewed, five of whom had already been infected with Covid-19 at the time of the survey. The respondents reported, on the one hand, their need for protection and, on the other hand, the isolation they experienced during the pandemic. Trust in the care provided by the nursing staff was emphasized. A reliable personal contact to already known general practitioners was missing.

CONCLUSION

The role of nurses and general practitioners deserves more attention and may be a key to better acceptance and management of such crisis situations.

[COVID-19 vaccination status among nurses and associated factors in long-term care facilities : Results of a cross-sectional survey within the Covid-Heim project]

BACKGROUND

Nurses working in long-term care facilities were vaccinated first before residents as a matter of priority to protect the latter. Although the vaccination rate of nursing staff eventually rose due to a facility-based vaccination requirement, studies on associated factors of vaccination status are currently not available for the long-term care setting in Germany.

OBJECTIVE

Associated factors of COVID-19 vaccination status among nursing staff in long-term care facilities were explored.

METHODS

An online survey was conducted between October 26th 2021 and January 31st 2022. A total of 1546 nurses working in long-term care in Germany responded to questions concerning the Covid-19 vaccination campaign. Logistic regression analyses were performed.

RESULTS

In this study 8 out of 10 nurses were vaccinated against COVID-19 (80.6%). Approximately 7 out of 10 nurses thought at least a few times about quitting their job since the pandemic began (71.4%). A positive COVID-19 vaccination status was associated with older age, full-time employment, COVID-19 deaths at the facility and working in northern or western Germany. Frequent thoughts of quitting their job were associated with negative COVID-19 vaccination status.

CONCLUSION

The present findings provide evidence on factors associated with the COVID-19 vaccination status of nurses in long-term care facilities in Germany for the first time. Further quantitative as well as qualitative studies are necessary for a more comprehensive understanding of the COVID-19 vaccination decision-making among nurses in long-term care, in order to implement target-oriented future vaccination campaigns in this care setting.

[Long-term care facilities-the COVID-19 pandemic as an urgent call: infection prevention, control measures, and factors influencing the health of residents]

The COVID-19 pandemic once again highlighted the vulnerability of residents of long-term care facilities due to their increased risk of a severe or fatal course of COVID-19. To protect the residents in the face of high incidences of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV‑2) in the general population, a number of measures for infection protection were recommended, which led to a decrease of COVID-19 case numbers and deaths in the facilities during the pandemic. However, factors in the facilities that hampered the implementation of these measures and represented a significant impact on the health of the residents also became visible.The challenges concern working conditions (e.g., lack of staff, both in general and with corresponding competencies, and work-related stress), the care of residents (e.g., medical and psychosocial), and structural as well as facility-related factors (e.g., facility size).Approaches to these problems indicate that a successful implementation of infection control measures should be part of a concept for redesigning the work and living conditions of the staff and residents of the facilities. It is important to note that infection control should not be planned exclusively with regard to future pandemics, but is of relevance for health risks that already exist in the facilities, such as healthcare-associated infections, antibiotic resistances, or influenza.

Soziale Teilhabe in Pflegeheimen mit Covid-19-Schutzmaßnahmen in der zweiten Pandemiewelle?

Zusammenfassung. Hintergrund: Die Umsetzung von Schutzmaßnahmen in Pflegeheimen während der Covid-19-Pandemie war mit dem Wegfall sozialer Teilhabeangebote in der ersten Covid-19-Welle verbunden, für die zweite Covid-Welle ist dies unzureichend untersucht. Ziel: Die Evaluation des Zusammenhangs von Schutzmaßnahmen und Einschränkungen der sozialen Teilhabe für die zweite Covid-19-Welle zur Ausarbeitung von Handlungsempfehlungen. Methode: Mixed-Methods-Online-Survey von Pflegeheimleitungen ( n = 873) in der zweiten Welle. Mithilfe binärlogistischer verallgemeinerter Schätzgleichungen wurde die Wahrscheinlichkeit für das Wegfallen sozialer Teilhabeangebote in den Pflegeheimen in Abhängigkeit gesetzlicher Schutzmaßnahmen evaluiert. Offene Antworten zur Aufrechterhaltung sozialer Teilhabe wurden inhaltsanalytisch untersucht ( n = 1042). Ergebnisse: Mehr als jede zweite Pflegeheimleitung berichtet über untersagte Gruppenveranstaltungen (66,6%), mehr als jede dritte untersagte kreative Angebote (42,3%). Besuchseinschränkungen (85,2%) waren in der zweiten Welle weit verbreitet. Der Wegfall von Teilhabeangeboten und die angeordneten Schutzmaßnahmen waren eng assoziiert. Qualitative Daten zeigten, dass zum Beispiel das Anschaffen mobiler Einkaufsläden Maßnahmen waren, der sozialen Exklusion der Bewohnenden entgegenzuwirken. Diskussion: Der Zusammenhang zwischen dem Wegfall sozialer Teilhabeangebote und der Umsetzung von Schutzmaßnahmen war deutlich ausgeprägt. Die Pflegepraxis sollte die Umsetzung von sozialer Teilhabe ermöglichen und gleichzeitig einen bestmöglichen Infektionsschutz garantieren.