Healthcare workers (HCWs) have an increased risk of death and infections since they are excessively exposed to COVID-19 (Shaukat, Ali & Razzak, 2020). The pandemic has placed mental and physical health burdens on the HCWs who are the frontline soldiers fighting against this pandemic. Rajkumar (2020) observes that long working hours, personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages, physical fatigue, loneliness, separation from family members, and increased risk of infection affect the mental health of HCWs. During outbreaks, negative, and positive emotional responses by HCWs coexist and are interweaved (Sun et al., 2020). However, the negative emotions predominate as positive responses appear gradually. Coping mechanisms and social support play an essential role in maintaining the mental health of the HCWs. In this paper, I will review COVID-19’s effects on the physical and psychological health of HCWs from an evidence-based approach.
Losing many colleagues and patients to the pandemic causes post-traumatic stress disorder and high levels of anxiety (Chersich et al., 2020). A study by Pappa et al. (2020) found out that healthcare workers have experienced significant anxiety, insomnia, and depression levels during this pandemic. Another study by Shaukat and colleagues (2020) found out that HCWs experienced fever, cough, and weakness as the most prominent physical manifestations of COVID-19 from prolonged contact with patients. Additionally, prolonged use of PPEs caused damage to the skin and cutaneous manifestations, with the nasal bridge being the most affected site. In another study by Gold (2020), he found out that where PPEs were insufficient, nurses and personal support workers were not willing to report to duty. In addition, PPE shortage aroused feelings of institutional betrayal among HCWs, contributing to more psychological trauma.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
I can relate to most of the feelings discussed in the previous paragraph. There are times I felt mentally weighed down. Reports of ailing healthcare workers succumbing to the pandemic left me with one question, “Am I the next one?” I have also been affected by seeing many patients die. These feelings would worsen every time I step in the high-risk department when I remember that I am likely to come into contact with a diagnosed family member, patients, and colleagues with suboptimal hand hygiene after coming into contact with COVID 19 patients or I may even have used PPE improperly. On the other hand, healthcare facilities have acknowledged that personal support workers are among those at risk of mental and physical consequences acquired directly as an effect of caring for COVID-19 patients. Markedly, the efforts taken so far have proved that we will win the fight against this pandemic if we continue to work in collaboration as a nation and globe. Still, organizations should offer support to respond to the mental and physical needs of the healthcare workers (Walton, Murray & Christian) so that chances of infections are reduced and mechanisms of reducing morbidity and mortality amongst personal support workers like myself are in place.
References
Bohlken, J., Schömig, F., Lemke, M. R., Pumberger, M., & Riedel-Heller, S. G. (2020). COVID-19-Pandemie: Belastungen des medizinischen Personals [COVID-19 Pandemic: Stress Experience of Healthcare Workers - A Short Current Review]. Psychiatrische Praxis , 47 (4), 190–197. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-1159-5551
Chersich, M. F., Gray, G., Fairlie, L., Eichbaum, Q., Mayhew, S., Allwood, B., English, R., Scorgie, F., Luchters, S., Simpson, G., Haghighi, M. M., Pham, M. D., & Rees, H. (2020). COVID-19 in Africa: care and protection for frontline healthcare workers. Globalization and health , 16 (1), 46. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-020-00574-3
Gold, J. A. (2020). Covid-19: adverse mental health outcomes for healthcare workers. https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1815.full
Pappa, S., Ntella, V., Giannakas, T., Giannakoulis, V. G., Papoutsi, E., & Katsaounou, P. (2020). Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and insomnia among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Brain, behavior, and immunity , 88 , 901–907. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.05.026
Rajkumar, R. P. (2020). COVID-19 and mental health: A review of the existing literature. Asian journal of psychiatry , 102066. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876201820301775
Shaukat, N., Ali, D. M., & Razzak, J. (2020). Physical and mental health impacts of COVID-19 on healthcare workers: A scoping review. International Journal of Emergency Medicine , 13 (1), 1-8.
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
Walton, M., Murray, E., & Christian, M. D. (2020). Mental health care for medical staff and affiliated healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. European heart journal. Acute cardiovascular care , 9 (3), 241–247. https://doi.org/10.1177/2048872620922795
