Strategies for Confronting the COVID-19 Pandemic in the State of Piauí—Brazil: Contributions to Nursing

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the adoption of rapid, complex, and changeable measures. These measures allowed effective care planning and implementation of emergency management strategies to meet the needs of the population. Objective: To analyze the influence of the strategies to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, implemented by the Public Health Network of the State of Piauí, Brazil, as contributions to nursing, on the outcome of cases and deaths. Method: This is a descriptive and documentary study with a qualitative approach, carried out in the state of Piauí—Brazil, whose data were processed at IRAMUTEC and analyzed by the Descending Hierarchical Classification (DHC). Results: Ninety-two normative acts were instituted as coping strategies, distributed in three classes: technical-operational protocols for preventing and combating COVID-19 in Piauí; Piauí strategic bases for social distancing against COVID-19; and management of services and economic activities in Piauí in the fight against COVID-19. Conclusions: The actions determined by and implemented in the normative acts were conducted according to the behavior of the epidemiological curve regarding the number of cases and deaths. The normative acts, which defined the technical-operational protocols for the prevention and control of COVID-19, were directly related to social distancing strategies and the use of protective equipment in the quality of life of the population.