Experiences of renal healthcare practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multi-methods approach.

BACKGROUND: Globally, renal healthcare practitioners provide intensive and protracted support to a highly complex multi-morbid patient population however knowledge about the impact of COVID-19 on these practitioners is extremely limited. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the experiences of COVID-19 with renal healthcare practitioners during the first global lockdown between June 2020 and September 2020. METHODS: A multi-methods approach was carried out including a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews. This was a multinational study of renal healthcare practitioners from 29 countries. Quantitative: A self-designed survey on COVID-19 experiences and standardised questionnaires (General Health Questionnaire-12; Maslach Burnout Inventory). Descriptive statistics were generated for numerical data. Qualitative: Online semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data was subjected to thematic analysis. Renal healthcare practitioners (n = 251) completed an online survey. Thirteen renal healthcare practitioners took part in semi-structured interviews (12 nurses and 1 dietician). RESULTS: The majority of participants surveyed were female (86.9 %; n = 218), nurses (86.9 %; n = 218) with an average 21.5 (SD = 11.1) years' experience since professional qualification, and 16.3 years (SD = 9.3) working in renal healthcare. Survey responses indicated a level of preparedness, training and satisfactory personal protective equipment during the pandemic however approximately 40.3 % experienced fear about attending work, and 49.8 % experienced mental health distress. The highest prevalence of burnout was emotional exhaustion (35.9 %). Three themes emerged from the qualitative analysis highlighting the holistic complexities in managing renal healthcare, a neglected specialist workforce, and the need for appropriate support at work during a pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: Results have highlighted the psychological impact, in terms of emotional exhaustion and mental health distress in our sample of renal healthcare practitioners. As the pandemic has continued, it is important to consider the long-term impact on an already stretched workforce including the risk of developing mental health disorders. Future research and interventions are required to understand and improve the provision of psychological support for specialist medical and nursing personnel.

Pre-operative pediatric cardiac surgery: enema Versus not enema.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE WORK: There is evidence in adult literature that the enema in the preoperative of thoracic surgery can be dismissed without disadvantage. However, there is a gap of articles about enema in childhood for thoracic surgeries. The aim of the work is  to investigate whether the administration of enema in the preparation for cardiac surgery, the use of different analgosedation drugs and the Extracorporeal Circulation influence the children's intestinal motility in the post-operative period. METHODS: A retrospective study was carried out comparing the data between users subjected to saline solution enema, originating from the U.O.C. of Pediatric Cardiology and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery and Congenital Heart Disease and users not subjected to such procedure, coming from the U.O.S.D. Pediatric Intensive Care. The data collected will evaluate the intestinal motility in the post-operative cardiac surgery. RESULTS: The following three variables were analyzed: interval of post-operative evacuation days (mean 2.14, median 2.00, standard deviation 1.525 in non-enema children; mean 2.76, median 2.00, standard deviation 1.318 in enema children), administered analgosedation drugs and use of Extracorporeal Circulation - for which the Pearson Test was used. A sampling bias is also reported from the analysis of the data. The study did not show a statistical significance correlates the variables analyzed to intestinal motility in post-operative period. CONCLUSION: The sampling bias emerged could reflect the diversity of the catchment area in the two Wards. The study - in agreement with the literature concerning the adult user - proves that the practice of enema evacuation pre-operative cardiac surgery in the pediatric user is unnecessary and does not influence intestinal transit in the post-operative period.