COUNTER-REFERRAL DIFFICULTIES IN AN EMERGENCY CARE UNIT: IMPACT OF COVID-19
Freitas, Brenda Meinschein
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Nascimento, Eliane Regina Pereira do
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Vieira, Patricia Madalena
Secretaria Municipal de Saúde de Florianópolis
Malfussi, Luciana Bihain Hagemann de
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Forster, Fernanda
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Amaral, Mirelly do
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Navarro Maldonado, Ximena Alejandra
Journal
Texto E Contexto Enfermagem
ISSN
1980-265X
0104-0707
Open Access
gold
Volume
33
ABSTRACT Objective: to describe the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on counter-referral in an Emergency Care Unit. Method: a descriptive, qualitative study conducted with 13 health professionals. Data were collected through individual, semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the Collective Subject Discourse technique. Results: five speeches were extracted from the interviews about the influence of the pandemic on counter-referral which reveal the difficulties in this process: before the pandemic, overcrowding of specific basic health units that were unable to absorb the population demand and a lack of professionals in teams stood out; the difficulty during the pandemic was in relation to prioritizing care for respiratory symptomatic patients in basic units and the use of communication technology in care and scheduling appointments; there is still difficulty in the transpandemic time in providing care in basic units and the consequent overload in the Emergency Care Unit. Conclusion: COVID-19 had a negative impact on implementing counter-referral with difficulties in logistics, resources and structure, represented by access for the general population, which was even more limited in basic units due to the pandemic.