Continued professional development in the COVID-19 pandemic: statutory nursing technicians as educators

Objective: to examine the practice of professional nursing technicians as educators in a technical-operational dimension of continued professional development focused on the disease caused by type-2 coronavirus (COVID-19). Method: this qualitative study was conducted with nursing technicians at an intensive care unit, after approval by the research ethics committee. Results: 20 nursing technicians were interviewed (with no refusal from statutory personnel), 83% of them female, mean age 41 years and averaging 17 years' experience in Nursing, who had to adapt, in this critical period, to the function of educators. Conclusion: the nursing technicians were found to have to reframe their practice to the specific needs inherent to the pandemic. Professional training and qualification activities tend to be conducted by nurses and, consequently, nursing technicians, as the target public for these activities, are not treated as integral members of the continued professional development service.