FACING COVID-19: EXPERIENCE REPORT FROM A PORTUGUESE INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

Objective: to report a professional experience of nurses working in an Intensive Care Unit, dedicated to COVID-19 patients, in a Portuguese hospital. Development: Portuguese government's measures aimed flattening cases progression curve and, simultaneously, provided health units some autonomy to adopt internal contingency measures. In our hospital, there was a reorganization of the Intensive Care Units (ICU), with a significant increase in available bed numbers. Within the scope of our ICU, a redesign and team adaptation took place, with a strong focus on professional training on the topic of COVID-19 and infection control. Final considerations: Currently, it is still unknown implications these pandemics have caused and will continue to generate on population and healthcare workers. Likewise, body of evidence is growing and its quality is sometimes quite low. Thus, governmental and institutional measures implemented allied to team spirit and resilience of health professionals were and are still needed.