Management of patients with post Covid-19 condition in France: A qualitative study exploring nurses’ contributions to care pathways

Résumé fourni par la source

Objective: To investigate the different contributions made by nurses in the management of patients with post covid-19 condition (PCC) within the French healthcare context. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study among healthcare professionals in France and enrolled 17 nurses from different care sectors, including private practice, hospitals, schools, and research settings. Semi-structured interviews were conducted between October 2022 and June 2023. The inclusion criteria were: "be a nursing professional" and "having taken care of a patient with PCC." A content thematic analysis was carried out using NVIVO software with advanced pattern recognition analysis, applying the French nursing competency framework to categorize findings. Results: Five main themes emerged: (i) the diversity of nurses' contributions and responsibilities, (ii) psychological support: an essential nursing contribution, (iii) screening and referral activities for PCC patients, (iv) care coordination and inter-professional collaboration responsibilities, and (v) therapeutic patient education and clinical research participation. Nurses demonstrated expanded competencies in PCC symptom recognition, adapted traditional tasks to meet novel patient needs, and integrated evolving Long Covid knowledge with existing chronic disease management expertise. Conclusion: The results offer important perspectives for the organization of the healthcare system and for the nursing profession in the management of chronic diseases. An important aspect of our findings concerns the coordination of care pathways, which raises the issue of task delegation to nurses, particularly in a context of healthcare professional shortages.

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