Functional status related to post-COVID 19 Syndrome in the nursing staff of a Second Level Hospital in Quito-Ecuador

Introduction: Nurses are on the front line fighting against the COVID-19 and are at high risk of infection by direct patient care. Multiple factors determine the severity of this disease and along with persistent symptoms due to subsequent infection, affect the functional status of the infected nurses. General Objective: To determine the functional status related to the post-COVID-19 in direct patient care nurses at Hospital General Docente de Calderón during 2022. Method: The research has a quantitative approach with a descriptive, observational and cross-sectional design which determined the functional status related to the post-COVID 19 syndrome in 142 respondents. For this purpose it was used the Spanish version of Post COVID 19 Functional Status Scale, previously validated. Results: The average age of the participants was 36.8 years, 110 women and 32 men. Regarding functional limitations, 54.9% had no limitations, 16.9% had minimal limitations, 5.6% had mild limitations, 12.7% had moderate limitations and 9.9% had severe limitations. By exploring possible associations between variables, a significant relationship (p<0.005) was found between functional status with age and the number of infections. Conclusions: Although the largest percentage does not present functional limitations, it is worth noting that the 45.1% of nurses and auxiliary nurses, with minimal or severe functional limitations, continue to work in areas of medium or greater complexity. It constitutes an important input for the improvement of occupational health.