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Healthcare worker’s emotions, perceived stressors and coping mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic

Increasing cases, insufficient amount of personal protection equipment, extremely demanding workloads, and lack of adequate therapies to save lives can contribute to a psychological burden directly related to working during disease outbreaks. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at a high risk of contracti...

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Autores principales: Rose, Suzanne, Hartnett, Josette, Pillai, Seema
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8270181/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34242361
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254252
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author Rose, Suzanne
Hartnett, Josette
Pillai, Seema
author_facet Rose, Suzanne
Hartnett, Josette
Pillai, Seema
author_sort Rose, Suzanne
collection PubMed
description Increasing cases, insufficient amount of personal protection equipment, extremely demanding workloads, and lack of adequate therapies to save lives can contribute to a psychological burden directly related to working during disease outbreaks. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at a high risk of contracting COVID-19 due to its ability to spread efficiently through asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals. There are limited studies assessing the pandemic’s psychological impact on HCWs, specifically those in close proximity to hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Our study explored the emotions, perceived stressors, and coping strategies of front-line HCWs at high risk of exposure to COVID-19 during the first surge at our community-based teaching hospital, the epicenter of COVID-19 in Connecticut. A validated comprehensive questionnaire derived and modified from previous epidemics was used to inquire about staff feelings, factors that caused stress and factors that mitigated stress. Personal coping strategies and factors that can increase staff’s motivation to work during future events of similar nature were also asked. Emotional reactions, coping mechanisms, and stressors varied by healthcare role, while some experiences and reactions were similar among groups. Willingness to participate in a second wave of the pandemic or future outbreaks is strongly driven by adequate personal protective equipment, financial recognition, and recognition from management, similarly reported in previous disease outbreaks. All groups felt a reduction in stress due to a sense of camaraderie and teamwork, as well as when sharing jokes or humor with colleagues. Our HCWs at high risk of exposure experienced significant emotional distress during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. By understanding the needs and experiences of our HCWs at highest risk, we can improve our psychological support using targeted interventions during future waves of this pandemic or similar devastating events.
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spelling pubmed-82701812021-07-21 Healthcare worker’s emotions, perceived stressors and coping mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic Rose, Suzanne Hartnett, Josette Pillai, Seema PLoS One Research Article Increasing cases, insufficient amount of personal protection equipment, extremely demanding workloads, and lack of adequate therapies to save lives can contribute to a psychological burden directly related to working during disease outbreaks. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at a high risk of contracting COVID-19 due to its ability to spread efficiently through asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals. There are limited studies assessing the pandemic’s psychological impact on HCWs, specifically those in close proximity to hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Our study explored the emotions, perceived stressors, and coping strategies of front-line HCWs at high risk of exposure to COVID-19 during the first surge at our community-based teaching hospital, the epicenter of COVID-19 in Connecticut. A validated comprehensive questionnaire derived and modified from previous epidemics was used to inquire about staff feelings, factors that caused stress and factors that mitigated stress. Personal coping strategies and factors that can increase staff’s motivation to work during future events of similar nature were also asked. Emotional reactions, coping mechanisms, and stressors varied by healthcare role, while some experiences and reactions were similar among groups. Willingness to participate in a second wave of the pandemic or future outbreaks is strongly driven by adequate personal protective equipment, financial recognition, and recognition from management, similarly reported in previous disease outbreaks. All groups felt a reduction in stress due to a sense of camaraderie and teamwork, as well as when sharing jokes or humor with colleagues. Our HCWs at high risk of exposure experienced significant emotional distress during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. By understanding the needs and experiences of our HCWs at highest risk, we can improve our psychological support using targeted interventions during future waves of this pandemic or similar devastating events. Public Library of Science 2021-07-09 /pmc/articles/PMC8270181/ /pubmed/34242361 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254252 Text en © 2021 Rose et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Rose, Suzanne
Hartnett, Josette
Pillai, Seema
Healthcare worker’s emotions, perceived stressors and coping mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic
title Healthcare worker’s emotions, perceived stressors and coping mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_full Healthcare worker’s emotions, perceived stressors and coping mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_fullStr Healthcare worker’s emotions, perceived stressors and coping mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Healthcare worker’s emotions, perceived stressors and coping mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_short Healthcare worker’s emotions, perceived stressors and coping mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_sort healthcare worker’s emotions, perceived stressors and coping mechanisms during the covid-19 pandemic
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8270181/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34242361
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254252
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