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. 2022 Jan 12;2(1):1.
doi: 10.1186/s44158-021-00031-6.

Care and compassion at time of pandemic: an ICU field experience in Italy

Annalaura Ferrari  1 , Selena Russo  2 , Catia Quagliotto  3 , Roberta Granello  3 , Lorenza Menato  3 , Antonio Nola  3 , Stefano Addesa  3 , Sergio Cassella  1 , Antonio Farnia  3 , Mariagrazia Strepparava  2   4 , Alessandra Mauri  5 , Mario Peta  3
Affiliations

Care and compassion at time of pandemic: an ICU field experience in Italy

Annalaura Ferrari et al. J Anesth Analg Crit Care. .

Abstract

After the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in March 2020, the majority of hospital policies have followed guidelines aimed to prevent the virus transmission and the families' entry was denied in all hospital wards and intensive care units (ICU). Despite being necessary, such restrictions have been experienced with discomfort and sufferings by the general ICU staff of Treviso Hospital (Italy) and by families of patients. Therefore, from April 2020, a step-by-step project was developed to reactivate contact with COVID-19 patients' families. The several requests and appeals of intensive care communities and organizations, both nationally and internationally, motivated the Treviso hospital initiative, leading to a model that might be potentially useful to other intensive care units worldwide.

Keywords: COVID-19; Family visits; Family-centred care; Healthcare workers’ well-being; Intensive care units; Italy; Pandemics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
An example of a letter sended to the families
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Project timeline and surveys. Project timeline; the different departments involved; some of HCW and family members’ comments, collected through the questionnaires. Abbreviations: ICU, intensive care unit; HCW, healthcare workers
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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