COVID-19 and district and community nursing
The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging the delivery of nursing care in every environment, not least within patients' own homes. This pandemic is having an impact that we would never before have imagined possible; apart from key workers, the entire population is locked down and socially distanced, and there are devastating nightly reports of tragedies, alarming mortality rates and upsetting reports of the loss of colleagues from all disciplines of healthcare.
Emergency departments and critical care units have rightly been the main focus of media attention; ventilators have been rapidly sourced, and new Nightingale Hospitals speedily developed. However, the ‘oft-forgotten’ care, delivered by community teams, in ‘wards without walls’, seems to have missed the spotlight, despite being essential and at the very heart of care provision for patients at home. District and community nursing teams provide complex, person-centred care, freeing up vital hospital beds and providing care for the now burgeoning ‘housebound’ population; this is alongside end-of-life care, wound care and support for patients with a range of complex conditions. Caseloads have expanded exponentially, with numerous, hurried hospital discharges, often with the added uncertainty of COVID-19 status. The withdrawal of routine face-to-face care by other services, the closure of ambulatory care and the stay at home directive have all added significantly to caseload pressures.
Register now to continue reading
Thank you for visiting Community Nursing and reading some of our peer-reviewed resources for district and community nurses. To read more, please register today. You’ll enjoy the following great benefits:
What's included
-
Limited access to clinical or professional articles
-
New content and clinical newsletter updates each month