Dados do Trabalho

Título

The importance of nursing and social service teams during COVID-19 pandemic in a radiotherapy unit

Introdução

The cancer diagnosis exacerbates social and emotional issues for a patient, such as doubts and fears about the disease, life planning and rupture of their previous routine. From that moment forward, the patient begins to experience hospital visits, exams, procedures and even hospitalization. This new routine can be complicated for patients and their families considering it might aggravate social vulnerability issues. Fragile family networks and difficulty to access rights assured by law are some of the factors that might damage the patient’s treatment continuity. The COVID-19 pandemic worsened the access to health care, given that many appointments, exams and procedures were delayed due to measures to prevent the coronavirus community transmission. Nursing and social service teams have shown to be essential to facilitate patient’s access to health care in this scenario.

Objetivo

Describe nursing and social service interventions for patients under radiotherapy treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Método

An active search of patients under treatment in a radiotherapy unit of Porto Alegre was performed by the nursing team and forwarded to social service when identified factors that might prejudice the treatment continuity. The social service team was in charge of mediating conflicts in order to assure patient’s social rights and facilitate access to treatment.

Resultados

The change of demand in this radiotherapy unit during the COVID-19 pandemic evidenced treatment abandonment, low assiduity and, consequently, lower volume of patients. An important issue that contributed to treatment discontinuity was the access to transport, given that cities reduced this offer and attendance hours. Another factor identified was difficult health care access to a cancer diagnosis, due to attendance restrictions in order to prevent the coronavirus community transmission. Nursing and social service team was essential to facilitate patient’s access through communication with the city health network.

Conclusão

The integrated actions of nursing and social service help assure patient’s social rights providing effective assistance to those under radiotherapy, reassuring the importance of those professionals in a radiotherapy unit.

Palavras-chave

Social Service; Pandemic; Nursing