In the wake of this unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, there has been much suffering and burdens associated with the disease. Many people have been infected; some have lost their lives, while others have recovered. The morbidity and mortality rates of CPVOD-19 continue to rise. Measures were instituted to control the spread of the novel virus. Some of the measures include temporary mandatory lockdowns, closing small businesses, and social distancing rules. As a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, I feel that beyond the noticeable economic and physical effects of the pandemic, people continue to suffer from mental health issues in subtle ways. The general public, patients, and healthcare workers are all experiencing mental health problems. I concur with Rajkumar (2020) who states that healthcare workers may experience adverse mental health effects due to separation from their families, physical fatigue, the risk for infection, loneliness, shortage of personal protective equipment, and long working hours.
The seriousness, social isolation, uncertainty, and unpredictability of the disease are playing a significant role in contributing to mental morbidity and psychological stress. The indirect effects experienced might be greater. COVID-19 pandemic might have pervasive and profound impacts on global mental health now and in the future. Conscious and deliberate efforts should continue to be put in place to address the vital aspect of the mental health impacts of the pandemic.
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Protecting Self and Others from Exposure
People should perform hand hygiene regularly with soap and running water for about 20 seconds. Hand hygiene is especially important after visiting public places, before touching the face, after caring for someone sick or handling your mask, and before preparing food. Where water and soap are not readily available, people can use hand sanitizers with a concentration of at least 60% alcohol (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2020).
While interacting with other people, one should maintain a social distance of at least 6 feet. The virus is spread from person to person when in close proximity. Asymptomatic infected people can also transmit the virus. One cannot tell who is infected or not. The safest thing would be to maintain social distance while in public places.
Wearing face masks prevents transmission of the virus from an infected person and also protects healthy people from acquiring the virus. People should wear masks in the right way by covering their mouth and nose while in public places. The face masks should also meet the required standards. Masks are especially important where it isn't easy to maintain social distance. However, face masks are not a substitute for social distancing rules.
People should also regularly clean and disinfect regularly touched surfaces such as handles, doorknobs, and light switches. Additionally, people should adopt good coughing and sneezing techniques. One should sneeze inside the elbow or on a disposable tissue paper, then wash hands afterwards.
Nursing Education and Alleviating Patient Fears
Patient education should focus on adhering to medication regimen, observing guidelines for wearing face masks, hand hygiene, and maintaining social distance. The pandemic has undoubtfully placed a psychological burden on patients. To help allay patients’ fear, I would establish a therapeutic relationship with them. Also, I would encourage patients to verbalize their concerns, worries, fears, and questions. Sharing one’s fears and worries lifts the psychological burden. Additionally, I would respond to my patients’ questions, offer empathetic care, treat them with respect and dignity, explain procedures and seek consent before performing them, provide truthful information, and positive reassurance.
Nursing Diagnosis
Addressing the Patient
Acute confusion related to altered levels of consciousness, being in a new environment, and increased discomfort as evidenced by altered sleep patterns and patient verbalization.
Provide a safe environment and communicate it to the patient. This ensures that a patient is exposed to low risks of injury and is physically comfortable. The client also feels that others are concerned about their condition.
Establish communication that enables nurses to relay feelings of care and concern to the patient. Also, a patient feels respected despite their health status.
Anxiety related to worries of a looming death, health condition, and medical equipment in ICU evidenced by patient’s verbalization when awake.
Establish a therapeutic relationship with the patient, offer positive regard, and display calmness and trust.
Interact with the patient in a respectable manner, use therapeutic touch, and help the patient identify anxiety precipitants. The patient perceives the nurse as approachable and can freely share issues, alleviating anxiety. Knowing the specific precipitants of stress can help in instituting strategies to deal with them, relieving anxiety.
Addressing the Family
Anxiety related uncertainty of the outcome, separation from their relative, and lack of information on the care given to their sick family member.
Increase communication with family members. Communicating with relatives makes them feel actively involved in the care of their relative (Shorofi et al., 2016). Additionally, talking with the family members provides an opportunity of establishing supportive and collaborative relationships with them.
The nurse should answer questions, involve family members in decision-making, and provide honest information. By doing so, a nurse assures relatives that their patient is receiving the best care and conveys the feeling that the hospital is concerned about the welfare of the patient. As a result, family members’ anxiety is reduced.
Conclusion
The impacts of this pandemic have demonstrated the importance of the nursing profession. Nurses play a critical role in caring for patients and helping deal with a pandemic. Hospitals should ensure that there are enough nurses in wards to avoid being overwhelmed when the flow of patients is high. Additionally, nurses face psychological problems in performing their duties. As such, programs should be started to help healthcare workers cope with the psychological stress experienced at work.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC). (2020) Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) – Prevention & Treatment. Retrieved 1 October 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html
Rajkumar, R. P. (2020). COVID-19 and mental health: A review of the existing literature. Asian journal of psychiatry , 102066.
Shorofi, S. A., Jannati, Y., Moghaddam, H. R., & Yazdani-Charati, J. (2016). Psychosocial needs of families of intensive care patients: Perceptions of nurses and families. Nigerian medical journal: journal of the Nigeria Medical Association , 57 (1), 10–18. https://doi.org/10.4103/0300-1652.180557
Sun, N., Wei, L., Shi, S., Jiao, D., Song, R., Ma, L., Wang, H., Wang, C., Wang, Z., You, Y., Liu, S., & Wang, H. (2020). A qualitative study on the psychological experience of caregivers of COVID-19 patients. American journal of infection control , 48 (6), 592–598. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2020.03.018
