{Reference Type}: Journal Article
{Title}: Skin problems associated with using of personal protective equipment in COVID-19 intensive care units.
{Author}: Altin L;Akbiyik A;
{Journal}: Nurs Crit Care
{Volume}: 28
{Issue}: 6
{Year}: 2023 11 26
{Factor}: 2.897
{DOI}: 10.1111/nicc.12956
{Abstract}: Health care workers, who worked intensively during the COVID-19 pandemic, faced some problems, including skin problems, due to the personal protective equipment (PPE) they used to control the spread of infection.<BR>This study aimed to identify the skin problems because of using PPE by nurses during the delivery of health care in three COVID-19 intensive care units (ICUs) within one hospital service.<BR>The study was designed as a cross-sectional survey. The study was conducted with nurses working in three intensive care units in the metropolitan districts of Ankara, Turkey. The data were collected online with a questionnaire developed by the researchers between December 2021 and June 2022.<BR>In this study, 82/120 (68.33%) nurses responded to the questionnaire at least once during the distribution period. The mean of the duration of PPE utilization per each time including goggles, N95 mask, bonnet, face-shield, gloves, boots/shoe covers and coverall was 3.76 ± 1.36 h. The proportion of nurses who experienced any skin problem related to any PPE at least two or more was 74/82 (90.24%). The proportion of pressure sores, acne, skin reaction including allergic dermatitis or contact urticaria, and regional pain varied between 4.9% and 79.3%. The proportion of nurses who applied any protective application to prevent skin problems was 53.66%. Among the protective applications, pressure-reducing surfaces were used the most. The use of protective applications for goggles (p = .010), bonnet (p = .000) and face shield (p = .000) effectively reduced PPE-related skin problems.<BR>During the pandemic, nurses faced a wide variety of skin problems because of PPEs. It may be beneficial to design a study programme that reduces the duration of PPEs use in clinics. In addition, there is a need for effective protective applications to prevent skin problems and new development of PPE that do not cause skin problems.<BR>In the pandemic, skin problems have developed because of the use of PPE in nurses who provide health care, intensively. These problems, which were not seen as a priority in the pandemic, may adversely affect the health of nurses, their performance in the treatment and care process and their work quality.