[Nursing care for controlling coronavirus infections in positive cases: a narrative review]

This review aims to map scientific evidence in nursing care aimed at controlling coronavirus infections.

A bibliographic search was conducted in the Medline, CINAHL, Scopus and WOS main databases, with no date limit and using the keywords «transmission», «infection», «contagious», «spreads», «coronavirinae», «coronavirus», «covid 19», «sars cov 2», «nurses» and «nursing». Initially, 154 studies were identified and, after selecting them according to eligibility criteria, 16 were included.

Among the main recommendations according to the available evidence are air exchange in rooms as a measure to reduce the risk of infection among patients; reinforcement of measures in intensive care units; follow-up of positive case contacts; and adequate training of professionals.

The studies included in the review addressed infection prevention and control practices by analyzing risks associated with exposure and listing actions to avoid complications in critically ill patients. Patterns of case transmission, contacts and associated factors were identified. Professional knowledge and attitudes were also studied, showing the importance of good infection control training, and of sufficient equipment and adequate infrastructure.Nurses are important vectors of spread. Although there is little evidence available on the effectiveness of care to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, published studies on the prevention and control of previous outbreaks of coronavirus are of considerable value.