The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Professional Autonomy of Anesthesiological Nurses and Trust in the Therapeutic Team of Intensive Therapy Units—Polish Multicentre Study

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic as well as the rate of spread of this particular pathogen around the world have caused the number of patients requiring medical attention and intensive care to exceed the capacity of even the best organized health care systems. This resulted in the need to hire employees who had not previously worked in intensive care units. Experience and knowledge have become particularly important in the context of mutual trust in the ICU team. At the same time, it could affect the level of professional autonomy of nurses, understood as the freedom to perform work based on knowledge, skills and competence without the need to submit to other medical professions. The pandemic status has required that nurses are always involved in their work by participating in training. Faced with the dangers of COVID-19, there is no doubt that by the end of the pandemic, both nursing and healthcare will be better equipped to face future challenges. Methods: The study lasted from July to September 2021. The data collection procedure started with the consent of the heads of the institutions where the data was collected. The study was conducted using the Dempster Practice Behavior Scale (DPBS), which examines work autonomy. The survey using the proprietary questionnaire was conducted among 225 nurses working in eleven ICUs in five voivodeships in Poland. Results: The autonomy of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic was assessed at a high level. Younger respondents rated autonomy as being higher. Almost half of the respondents assessed the level of professional independence as high, including 52% of nurses, and significantly less, including 34% of doctors. A group of 47% of respondents assessed that trust had decreased and 28% said that trust had improved slightly. Conclusions: Professional independence allows you to perform work independently on others, taking responsibility for decisions and actions. The COVID-19 pandemic, through the influx of new staff members into treatment teams, had an impact on both nursing autonomy and the level of trust in a team, as shown in this study.