COVID‐19 infection in nursing staff: A cohort study.

Aim: This study aims to identify the working conditions of Brazilian nursing professionals and the risk factors for these professionals to become infected by coronavirus disease. Background: Understanding the factors that affected nursing professionals during the pandemic can support better nursing management. Design: This is a quantitative, cross‐sectional survey study. Methods: Data collection was carried out between February and March 2022 in Brazil. All nursing professionals registered in the national database received by e‐mail the study instrument with the data collection variables: professionals' sociodemographic and comorbid, professional and institutional characteristics, and professionals' health conditions and disease‐related aspects for COVID‐19. Results: Four thousand eight hundred sixty‐two nursing professionals reported a lack of personal protective equipment for patient care, and 4424 were infected by coronavirus disease. The risk factors to become infected were having cardiovascular disease, being under 60 years of age, living in the northern region, using public transportation, working in a hospital, an emergency department or reference institution for COVID‐19, living with an infected person and lack of respirators or waterproof aprons. Conclusion: Multiple risk factors for infection with SARS‐CoV‐2 were demonstrated for the nursing professionals during the pandemic, highlighting current and future pandemics factors that are modifiable in a worthwhile time frame to minimize nurses' infection risks, such as inadequate working conditions associated with lack of essential personal protective equipment. Summary statement: What is already known about this topic? The health‐care team is essential in managing COVID‐19, but it has been directly affected by the pandemic. What this paper adds? Multiple risk factors for infection with SARS‐CoV‐2, modifiable or not, were demonstrated for these nursing professionals. The implications of this paper: Strategies to protect the health‐care workers should be implemented during this and any future pandemics, especially providing adequate access to essential personal protective equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]