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Adaptation of medical laboratory scientists to workplace hazards – experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed healthcare personnel's working environment and sense of security. Medical laboratory scientists were also faced with new occupational challenges. They were tasked with performing novel tests for SARS-CoV-2 without being aware of the associated risk...

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Autores principales: Wolszczak-Biedrzycka, Blanka, Bieńkowska, Anna, Maksymowicz, Stanisław
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9554429/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36249256
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.997049
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author Wolszczak-Biedrzycka, Blanka
Bieńkowska, Anna
Maksymowicz, Stanisław
author_facet Wolszczak-Biedrzycka, Blanka
Bieńkowska, Anna
Maksymowicz, Stanisław
author_sort Wolszczak-Biedrzycka, Blanka
collection PubMed
description The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed healthcare personnel's working environment and sense of security. Medical laboratory scientists were also faced with new occupational challenges. They were tasked with performing novel tests for SARS-CoV-2 without being aware of the associated risks. At the beginning of the pandemic, strict sanitary requirements and the fear of becoming infected with the “new virus” were considerable sources of stress. However, these stress responses abated over time. The aim of this two-stage study was to explore the extent to which this group of medical professionals adapted to new working conditions 1 year after the outbreak of the pandemic. The study was conducted at the beginning of the fourth pandemic wave in Poland, i.e., between 10 September and 31 October 2021. The first stage was a pilot study that involved interviews with 14 medical laboratory scientists. The results were used to perform a survey of 294 laboratory scientists in the second stage. The study investigated the problems and fears faced by this professional group at the beginning of the pandemic, as well as changes in their attitudes during successive waves of COVID-19. The analyzed data demonstrated that most medical laboratory scientists had grown accustomed to the pandemic and workplace changes by the beginning of the fourth wave. The study also indicates that in addition to adequate means of personal protection, health professionals should also be provided with emotional support in times of pandemic.
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spelling pubmed-95544292022-10-13 Adaptation of medical laboratory scientists to workplace hazards – experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic Wolszczak-Biedrzycka, Blanka Bieńkowska, Anna Maksymowicz, Stanisław Front Public Health Public Health The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed healthcare personnel's working environment and sense of security. Medical laboratory scientists were also faced with new occupational challenges. They were tasked with performing novel tests for SARS-CoV-2 without being aware of the associated risks. At the beginning of the pandemic, strict sanitary requirements and the fear of becoming infected with the “new virus” were considerable sources of stress. However, these stress responses abated over time. The aim of this two-stage study was to explore the extent to which this group of medical professionals adapted to new working conditions 1 year after the outbreak of the pandemic. The study was conducted at the beginning of the fourth pandemic wave in Poland, i.e., between 10 September and 31 October 2021. The first stage was a pilot study that involved interviews with 14 medical laboratory scientists. The results were used to perform a survey of 294 laboratory scientists in the second stage. The study investigated the problems and fears faced by this professional group at the beginning of the pandemic, as well as changes in their attitudes during successive waves of COVID-19. The analyzed data demonstrated that most medical laboratory scientists had grown accustomed to the pandemic and workplace changes by the beginning of the fourth wave. The study also indicates that in addition to adequate means of personal protection, health professionals should also be provided with emotional support in times of pandemic. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-09-28 /pmc/articles/PMC9554429/ /pubmed/36249256 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.997049 Text en Copyright © 2022 Wolszczak-Biedrzycka, Bieńkowska and Maksymowicz. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Wolszczak-Biedrzycka, Blanka
Bieńkowska, Anna
Maksymowicz, Stanisław
Adaptation of medical laboratory scientists to workplace hazards – experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic
title Adaptation of medical laboratory scientists to workplace hazards – experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic
title_full Adaptation of medical laboratory scientists to workplace hazards – experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic
title_fullStr Adaptation of medical laboratory scientists to workplace hazards – experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Adaptation of medical laboratory scientists to workplace hazards – experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic
title_short Adaptation of medical laboratory scientists to workplace hazards – experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic
title_sort adaptation of medical laboratory scientists to workplace hazards – experiences from the covid-19 pandemic
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9554429/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36249256
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.997049
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