Cargando…

Patterns of Changes in Oncological Care due to COVID-19: Results of a Survey of Oncological Nurses and Physicians from the Region of Hanover, Germany

Background: Healthcare staff is confronted with intensive decisional conflicts during the pandemic. Due to the specific burden of this moral distress in oncology, the investigation aimed at quantification of these conflicts and identification of risk factors that determine the extent and severity of...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Beller, Johannes, Schäfers, Jürgen, Geyer, Siegfried, Haier, Jörg, Epping, Jelena
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8775491/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35052179
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10010015
_version_ 1784636598613180416
author Beller, Johannes
Schäfers, Jürgen
Geyer, Siegfried
Haier, Jörg
Epping, Jelena
author_facet Beller, Johannes
Schäfers, Jürgen
Geyer, Siegfried
Haier, Jörg
Epping, Jelena
author_sort Beller, Johannes
collection PubMed
description Background: Healthcare staff is confronted with intensive decisional conflicts during the pandemic. Due to the specific burden of this moral distress in oncology, the investigation aimed at quantification of these conflicts and identification of risk factors that determine the extent and severity of these conflicts. We examined the heterogeneity of changes in oncology care due to COVID-19. Methods: We conducted a survey of oncological physicians and nurses in the region of Hanover, Germany in the second half of 2020. Overall, N = 200 respondents, 54% nurses, were included in the sample. Indicators of changes in oncology care were used to determine profiles of changes. To characterize these profiles, a diverse set of variables, including decision conflicts, uncertainty, age, gender, work experience, changes in communication with patients, psychological distress, work stress, process organization, and personnel resources, was obtained. Latent class analysis was conducted to determine these latent profiles. Results: We found that three distinct profiles best described the overall changes in oncology care due to COVID-19 in our sample, with each profile being associated with specific characteristics: (1) “Few Changes in Oncology Care” profile with 33% of participants belonging to this profile, (2) “Medium Changes in Oncology Care” profile with 43% of participants, and (3) “Severe Changes in Oncology Care” profile (24%). Participants from these profiles significantly differed regarding their age, work experience, occupational group, the prevalence of decision conflicts, decision uncertainty, quality of communication with patients, and quality of process organization. Conclusions: Distinct profiles of change in oncology care due to COVID-19 can be identified. Most participants reported small to medium changes, while some participants also reported severe changes. Profiles also differed regarding their associated characteristics. As such, specific consequences for better pandemic preparedness can be derived based on the current study. Future studies should investigate the patterns of changes in routine care due to COVID-19.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8775491
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-87754912022-01-21 Patterns of Changes in Oncological Care due to COVID-19: Results of a Survey of Oncological Nurses and Physicians from the Region of Hanover, Germany Beller, Johannes Schäfers, Jürgen Geyer, Siegfried Haier, Jörg Epping, Jelena Healthcare (Basel) Article Background: Healthcare staff is confronted with intensive decisional conflicts during the pandemic. Due to the specific burden of this moral distress in oncology, the investigation aimed at quantification of these conflicts and identification of risk factors that determine the extent and severity of these conflicts. We examined the heterogeneity of changes in oncology care due to COVID-19. Methods: We conducted a survey of oncological physicians and nurses in the region of Hanover, Germany in the second half of 2020. Overall, N = 200 respondents, 54% nurses, were included in the sample. Indicators of changes in oncology care were used to determine profiles of changes. To characterize these profiles, a diverse set of variables, including decision conflicts, uncertainty, age, gender, work experience, changes in communication with patients, psychological distress, work stress, process organization, and personnel resources, was obtained. Latent class analysis was conducted to determine these latent profiles. Results: We found that three distinct profiles best described the overall changes in oncology care due to COVID-19 in our sample, with each profile being associated with specific characteristics: (1) “Few Changes in Oncology Care” profile with 33% of participants belonging to this profile, (2) “Medium Changes in Oncology Care” profile with 43% of participants, and (3) “Severe Changes in Oncology Care” profile (24%). Participants from these profiles significantly differed regarding their age, work experience, occupational group, the prevalence of decision conflicts, decision uncertainty, quality of communication with patients, and quality of process organization. Conclusions: Distinct profiles of change in oncology care due to COVID-19 can be identified. Most participants reported small to medium changes, while some participants also reported severe changes. Profiles also differed regarding their associated characteristics. As such, specific consequences for better pandemic preparedness can be derived based on the current study. Future studies should investigate the patterns of changes in routine care due to COVID-19. MDPI 2021-12-22 /pmc/articles/PMC8775491/ /pubmed/35052179 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10010015 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Beller, Johannes
Schäfers, Jürgen
Geyer, Siegfried
Haier, Jörg
Epping, Jelena
Patterns of Changes in Oncological Care due to COVID-19: Results of a Survey of Oncological Nurses and Physicians from the Region of Hanover, Germany
title Patterns of Changes in Oncological Care due to COVID-19: Results of a Survey of Oncological Nurses and Physicians from the Region of Hanover, Germany
title_full Patterns of Changes in Oncological Care due to COVID-19: Results of a Survey of Oncological Nurses and Physicians from the Region of Hanover, Germany
title_fullStr Patterns of Changes in Oncological Care due to COVID-19: Results of a Survey of Oncological Nurses and Physicians from the Region of Hanover, Germany
title_full_unstemmed Patterns of Changes in Oncological Care due to COVID-19: Results of a Survey of Oncological Nurses and Physicians from the Region of Hanover, Germany
title_short Patterns of Changes in Oncological Care due to COVID-19: Results of a Survey of Oncological Nurses and Physicians from the Region of Hanover, Germany
title_sort patterns of changes in oncological care due to covid-19: results of a survey of oncological nurses and physicians from the region of hanover, germany
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8775491/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35052179
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10010015
work_keys_str_mv AT bellerjohannes patternsofchangesinoncologicalcareduetocovid19resultsofasurveyofoncologicalnursesandphysiciansfromtheregionofhanovergermany
AT schafersjurgen patternsofchangesinoncologicalcareduetocovid19resultsofasurveyofoncologicalnursesandphysiciansfromtheregionofhanovergermany
AT geyersiegfried patternsofchangesinoncologicalcareduetocovid19resultsofasurveyofoncologicalnursesandphysiciansfromtheregionofhanovergermany
AT haierjorg patternsofchangesinoncologicalcareduetocovid19resultsofasurveyofoncologicalnursesandphysiciansfromtheregionofhanovergermany
AT eppingjelena patternsofchangesinoncologicalcareduetocovid19resultsofasurveyofoncologicalnursesandphysiciansfromtheregionofhanovergermany