The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has triggered exceptionally rapid changes in the structure of our hospitals. Critical care nurses, directly involved in the care of the most severely affected patients, are experiencing new challenges with the implementation of new COVID-19 intensive care units (ICUs).1 At the height of the surge in COVID-19 patients in Italy, the lack of ICU beds and mechanical ventilators meant that our hospital administrators were forced to convert recovery rooms and operating rooms into new COVID-19 ICUs.1 These COVID-19 units provide the highest isolation precautions and represent the best of our hospitals’ logistic capacities. The real lack of resources, however, has been in “human competence.”
The surge in critically ill patients has meant sudden organizational changes imposed by hospital managers in order to provide an immediate response to this unprecedented human resource crisis in health care. These circumstances have fueled new nursing...
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