Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Describe the application of mental health guidelines by Nurses, under using the modality of telemedicine and in-person care, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Family Health Centers of the community of Macul of in the Metropolitan Region of the commune of Maculin Santiago, Chile, during 2020. METHODOLOGY: Cross-sectional quantitative descriptive study. Assistance nurses and the mental health screening they applied in Family Health Centers of the Metropolitan Region of the community of Macul commune during 2020 were investigated. The variables measured were derived from survey applications such as: AUDIT, MiniMental, Yesavage, Zarit, abbreviated Zarit and CRAFFT; Consultation modality: in-person and telemedicine; and sociodemographic characteristics: sex such as gender, years age, and place of work. RESULTS: Of the total application of guidelines, 78.72% corresponds to in-person care and 21.27% to telemedicine. There is an important feminization of nurses, 84.78% of nurses are females. 54.35% of nurses have low work experience (0-5 years). Highly experienced professionals (>13 years) stand out in the average number of guidelines applied, with 93.64 per year. Most surveys with altered results were found in telemedicine consultations. CONCLUSIONS: The evolution of telemedicine, Primary Health Care, and Nursing is essential to face the needs of the population, especially regarding mental health. This study shows a lack of protocolization of protocols related to Telemedicine consultations, which may result in less screening of mental health problems. This investigation can lay the groundwork to start a process of improvement of telemedicine and telenursing in Chile.