The Clinical Characteristics of Patients Applied to Covid-19 Outpatient Clinics of a Tertiary Hospital in Turkey in the First Wave of Pandemic

Background: The first wave of COVID-19 pandemic began to spread in Turkey in March 2020. As one of the first pandemic hospitals, very intense patient admissions have been made to our outpatient clinics in this period. For better understanding the disease characteristics, we investigated the clinical findings, comorbidities, and radiological pulmonary involvement of the COVID-19 patients.Methods:&nbsp;The SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test results of 6966 patients, applied to Kartal Lutfi&nbsp;Kırdar City Hospital InfectiousDiseases and Clinical Microbiology COVID-19 outpatient clinics between March and June 2020, were analyzed retrospectively. Demographic, clinical, and thoracic computed tomography data of the patients with positive test results were evaluated.Results:&nbsp;2672(38.4%) patients were SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR positive (1465 males, 1207 females). The mean age of the patients with a definite diagnosis of COVID-19 was 40.4±14.5 years (12-94 years). There was a statistically significant relationship between the age and COVID-19 (75.3% were &gt;65 years, p&lt;0.001). The main clinical findings were fever (n:2437, 91.2%), cough (n:2013, 75.3%), dyspnea (n:809, 30.2%), sore throat (n:257, 9.6%), weakness (n:244, 9.1%), myalgia (n:228, 8.5%), nausea/vomiting (n:135, 5.1%), diarrhea (n:80, 3%), anosmia (n:54, 2%), and loss of taste (n:54, 2%). The comorbidities found in our COVID-19 patients were hypertension(HT) (n:94, 3.5%), diabetes mellitus(DM) (n:70, 2.6%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) (n:68, 2.5%), coronary artery disease(CAD) (n:32, 1.2%) and malignancy (n:16, 0.6%). 4113 patients (75.2%), out of 5484 patients who had thorax CT, had COVID-19 compatible radiological involvement, with 3315(80.6%) positive and 798(19.4%) negative SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test results.Conclusion:&nbsp;The most frequent symptoms in the patients admitted to our hospital in the first wave of pandemic were fever, cough, dyspnea, sore throat, and weakness. Despite lockdown, the elderly above 65 years were most affected. The&nbsp;rate of COVID-19 compliant radiological involvement was moderately high. The most common comorbidities were HT, DM, COPD, CAD and malignancy.</div

Is Nurse Workforce Sufficient in Intensive Care Units in Turkey. Results of the Multicenter Karia Study

Introduction: In this multicenter study, we analysed the magnitude of healthcare worker (HCW) [infection control practitioner (ICP), nurses and others] workforce in hospitals participated in the study. Materials and Methods: This study was performed in 41 hospitals (with intensive care units-ICU) located in 22 cities from seven regions of Turkey. We analysed the ICP workforce, nursing and auxiliary HCW (AHCW) workforce in ICUs, number of ICU beds and occupied beds in four different days [two of which were in summer during the vacation time (August 27 and 31, 2016) and two others in autumn (October 12 and 15, 2016)]. The Turkish Ministry of Health (TMOH) requires two patients per nurse in level 3 ICUs, three patients per nurse in level 2 ICUs and five patients per nurse in level 1 ICUs. There is no standardization for the number of AHCW in ICUs. Finally, one ICP per 150 hospital beds is required by TMOH. Results: The total number of ICUs, ICU beds and ICPs were 214, 2377 and 111, respectively in he 41 participated centers. The number ICPs was adequate only in 12 hospitals. The percentage of nurses whose working experience was 2. The number of patients per other HCW was minimum 3.75 and maximum 4.89 on weekdays and on day shift while it was minimum 5.02 and maximum 7.7 on weekends or on night shift. When we compared the number of level 1, 2 and 3 ICUs with adequate nursing workforce vs inadequate nursing workforce, the p value was <0.0001 at all time points except summer weekend night shift (p=0.002). Conclusion: Our data suggest that ICP workforce is inadequate in Turkey. Besides, HCW workforce is inadequate and almost 1/4 of nurses are relatively inexperienced especially in level 3 ICUs. Turkish healthcare system should promptly make necessary arrangements for adequate HCW staffing