Specialist nurse in the rehabilitation of COVID-19 patients

Abstract

The article describes, from the experience of an advanced practice nurse in consultation-liaison psychiatry, the role of the mental health nurse specialist in the cognitive and emotional rehabilitation of severely ill COVID-19 patients. Within the framework of a post-ICU COVID-19 protocol of a tertiary hospital, it details the process undergone by the patient with severe pneumonia —ICU admission, intubation, sedoanalgesia— and the frequent sequelae at discharge: delirium and confusional syndrome (favoured by deliriogenic treatments and by the neurological effect of the virus itself), cognitive impairment, anxiety associated with dyspnoea and low mood due to functional deterioration. The liaison nursing interventions are set out: cognitive assessment and stimulation, reorientation to reality, open approach to the delusions experienced in the ICU, emotional validation, accompaniment, coordination between professionals and liaison with the family. The author concludes that implementing mental health care protocols and the figure of the specialist nurse in consultation-liaison improves the excellence of care, reduces anxiety and increases patient safety.