User:Mquinn15/sandbox

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers(add under impact on female staff)

The pandemic caused the nursing community a lot of stress. A national cross-sectional survey found that “71.4% of doctors and 74.4% of nurses experienced moderate-to-severe perceived stress”. In another Covid based study, the nurses all share common themes that include, working over hours, fear of contraction, limited supplies, endless patients, and self-sacrifice. Similarly in a cross-sectional survey, the researchers concluded that a high percentage of the resilient nurses surveyed report high-stress levels and/or PTSD symptoms. The survey also identifies eight major themes, “revealed from nurses' free-text responses: (a) working in an isolated environment, (b) PPE shortage and the discomfort of pronged usage, (c) sleep problems, (d) intensity of workload, (e) cultural and language barriers, (f) lack of family support, (g) fear of being infected, and (h) insufficient work experiences with COVID-19” A lot of these concerns are a direct result or exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

(add under shortage of PPEs)

Add Understaffing Section

At this point in time, it seems like everyone is struggling with understaffing, this is also true for the healthcare field. Through the Covid fight, the impact of understaffing has been amplified. In an observational research study, Lasater and other researchers, showed that nurses' workloads were very high and that half of the nursing staff was experiencing burnout. It was also discovered that “Unfavourable patient and nurse outcomes are strongly associated with poorer nurse staffing”. Without the proper staffing to handle the influx of Covid patients nurses can not provide patients with the best care. They simply do not have the employees to account for all the patients.

Add a rising to the challenges section,

“The nursing literature and social media are awash with stories of nurses exhausted, frightened, sometimes discriminated against, feeling burnt out, overworked, demoralized by ineffectual leadership of governments and health systems, or frustrated with the indifference of the public to adhere to public health regulations ''. These challenges are impacting the nursing community so much that it is affecting them mentally and physically. Burnout in nurses is very serious and without intervention, it leads to diminished patient care. Not only do these nurses have to deal with the added stress of being overworked, but they are also falling victim to the virus as well. “ICN’s believes that about 10% of COVID-19 cases globally are among healthcare workers”. Nurses are the publics’ defense in the pandemic, but because of the lacking resources, the nurses cannot totally protect themselves or provide the best patient care. Learning from and adapting from problems is exactly how they are solved. Solutions are not instantaneous and they are not always apparent, but as they say “where there’s a will there’s a way”.

Mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

Add under the PTSD section

In a cross-sectional survey, the researchers concluded that a high percentage of the resilient nurses surveyed report high-stress levels and/or PTSD symptoms. In the survey eight major themes were identified, “revealed from nurses' free-text responses: (a) working in an isolated environment, (b) PPE shortage and the discomfort of pronged usage, (c) sleep problems, (d) intensity of workload, (e) cultural and language barriers, (f) lack of family support, (g) fear of being infected, and (h) insufficient work experiences with COVID-19” (p. 98-99). A lot of these concerns are a direct result or exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Understaffing can cause issues in any profession, but with nursing, there is a higher risk. This is because it does not only affect the health of one person it has a rippling effect throughout society. Kader’s study found that “71.4% of doctors and 74.4% of nurses experienced moderate-to-severe perceived stress”. The study shows that dealing directly with Covid patients significantly increases stress levels. Without intervention not only would the nursing staff struggle but the patients would as well. The medical field is about helping others and nurses need to be in the right mindset to do that. Future research should be geared towards studying what methods help to reduce the stress on nurses. The nursing field cannot adapt on its own, and it cannot do it in the blink of an eye. Learning is a process, a process that can be very beneficial when done properly. That being said, the nursing profession will continue to adapt from the Covid-19 pandemic and will continue to need the public's support. Learning along the way and adapting is how nurses and healthcare workers become successful especially during a health crisis.