The role of nursing in facing Covid-19: perceptions in the context of Primary Health Care in Vitoria-ES

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The pandemic of COVID-19 challenged the world health system. Facing the greatest health crisis of the century, strategies had to be taken to avoid the progressive worsening in the number of cases and severe cases. Thus, Primary Health Care (PHC) had to be rearticulated to meet the demands of this respiratory syndrome. Nursing has a fundamental role in the articulation of care, in this sense, the objective of this study is to raise the main demands of PHC nursing in the health units of Vitoria - ES during the pandemic. Through qualitative questionnaires, 27 nursing professionals were interviewed, thus characterizing the experience of the pandemic in the context of primary care. Regarding the nursing performance, it is understood that the systematization of nursing care enables professionals to perform with autonomy the care during the pandemic. However, organizational and structural issues of the units, as well as the fear associated with the new, were the most recurrent challenges experienced by nurses.

Key words: COVID-19, Primary Health Care, Unified Health System, Nursing Care