Page 116 - Petelin, Ana. 2021. Ed. Zdravje starostnikov / Health of the Elderly. Proceedings. Koper: University of Primorska Press.
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avje starostnikov | health of the elderly 114 transfer of diseases such as COVID-19, if their implementation is to be
effective, conditions like sufficient resources, adequate organisation and
guidelines, enough staff knowledge and the consistent use of appropriate
personal protective equipment must be ensured. It is important to
consider the importance of the residents’ social life and and prevent
excessive social isolation. Conclusions: To effectively control diseases
like COVID-19, it is necessary to study the problems that arise in such
situations among the staff and residents of nursing homes, especially
those occurring while implementing infection-prevention measures
and using personal protective equipment so as to help manage similar
situations in the future. Our findings may serve as a basis for both
recommendations for better and safer working and living in these
facilities for staff and residents alike and for future research in this field.
Keywords: Coronavirus, problems, elderly, Covid expedition, social
welfare institutions
Introduction
In 2020, COVID-19 had a major impact on life and work in nursing homes in
Slovenia. Most (58%) deaths in Slovenia due to COVID-19 in that year were
among nursing home residents (UKOM, 2020). By November 2020, more than
85% of nursing homes had already experienced a coronavirus outbreak.
Nursing homes across the country already faced staff shortages before the
epidemic, with the problem then only worsening (Zbornica-Zveza, 2020). The
staff had to use considerable amounts of personal protective equipment (PPE)
(NIJZ, 2020), which requires great consistency at work and is physically de-
manding. They also had to implement many other measures to prevent/limit
the spread of the virus, overall creating more difficulties for both them and the
residents (White et al., 2021).
Some research has already shown that PPE and measures to contain the
coronavirus such as physical distancing, respiratory hygiene etc. play a key
role in fighting diseases like COVID-19, given that transmission is largely air-
borne (Lotfi et al., 2020). We must consider many factors that affect virus in-
fection prevention/control to spare problems for staff and to avoid errors by
them. Some have already been highlighted by researchers around the world
(Szczerbinska, 2020; Thompson et al., 2020), such as sufficient staff resources
with appropriate knowledge, appropriate building design, precise work guide-
lines, adequate and quality material resources, and plans for residents’ safe so-
cial contacts. The importance of healthcare workers’ perception and knowl-
edge about COVID-19 for better outcomes has also been noted (Bhagavathula
et al., 2020).
Not much research can be found on the challenges staff and residents of
nursing homes have faced during the COVID-19 epidemic. Therefore, the aim
of our study was to examine the issues encountered by residents, staff and stu-
dents in nursing homes while using PPE and applying other measures to lim-
effective, conditions like sufficient resources, adequate organisation and
guidelines, enough staff knowledge and the consistent use of appropriate
personal protective equipment must be ensured. It is important to
consider the importance of the residents’ social life and and prevent
excessive social isolation. Conclusions: To effectively control diseases
like COVID-19, it is necessary to study the problems that arise in such
situations among the staff and residents of nursing homes, especially
those occurring while implementing infection-prevention measures
and using personal protective equipment so as to help manage similar
situations in the future. Our findings may serve as a basis for both
recommendations for better and safer working and living in these
facilities for staff and residents alike and for future research in this field.
Keywords: Coronavirus, problems, elderly, Covid expedition, social
welfare institutions
Introduction
In 2020, COVID-19 had a major impact on life and work in nursing homes in
Slovenia. Most (58%) deaths in Slovenia due to COVID-19 in that year were
among nursing home residents (UKOM, 2020). By November 2020, more than
85% of nursing homes had already experienced a coronavirus outbreak.
Nursing homes across the country already faced staff shortages before the
epidemic, with the problem then only worsening (Zbornica-Zveza, 2020). The
staff had to use considerable amounts of personal protective equipment (PPE)
(NIJZ, 2020), which requires great consistency at work and is physically de-
manding. They also had to implement many other measures to prevent/limit
the spread of the virus, overall creating more difficulties for both them and the
residents (White et al., 2021).
Some research has already shown that PPE and measures to contain the
coronavirus such as physical distancing, respiratory hygiene etc. play a key
role in fighting diseases like COVID-19, given that transmission is largely air-
borne (Lotfi et al., 2020). We must consider many factors that affect virus in-
fection prevention/control to spare problems for staff and to avoid errors by
them. Some have already been highlighted by researchers around the world
(Szczerbinska, 2020; Thompson et al., 2020), such as sufficient staff resources
with appropriate knowledge, appropriate building design, precise work guide-
lines, adequate and quality material resources, and plans for residents’ safe so-
cial contacts. The importance of healthcare workers’ perception and knowl-
edge about COVID-19 for better outcomes has also been noted (Bhagavathula
et al., 2020).
Not much research can be found on the challenges staff and residents of
nursing homes have faced during the COVID-19 epidemic. Therefore, the aim
of our study was to examine the issues encountered by residents, staff and stu-
dents in nursing homes while using PPE and applying other measures to lim-
