Emergency Physician Mental Health during the Subacute Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic (original) (raw)

Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 on Health Care Workers in the Emergency Department

2020

The ongoing global pandemic of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a public health emergency. It has not only affected the general population, but has also caused psychological distress in the frontline health care workers (HCWs). It is crucial to understand the psychological impact of the COVID-19 on the frontline HCWs. The overall well-being and resilience of HCWs are key determinants to maintain an optimal healthcare response for appropriate patient management as well as to achieve good patient outcomes. This article summarizes the various risk factors as well as strategies that can be adopted to reduce the impact of stress on these frontline HCWs. This will help guide institutional as well as national policies and interventions to maintain their psychological well-being.

The Mental Health of Medical Workers During the Covid19 Pandemic: How Do We Manage It?

JURNAL KESEHATAN LINGKUNGAN

Introduction: Covid-19 pandemic has occurred in many countries and caused a world health crisis. The morbidity dan mortality rate due to Covid-19 still rising until now. The outbreak of Covid-19 was not only affected the mental health of community but also affect the medical workers as the frontline. Therefore, we present an overview of the mental health outcomes in medical workers and describe the management at the organizational and personal level. Literature is obtained through searches from the ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases which are further classified and summarized based on research questions. Discussion: The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mental health of medical workers shows that the majority of workers experience anxiety, insomnia, depression to severe stress. The risk of mental disorders in women is higher than men, nurses are higher than doctors, and middle and junior positions are higher than senior degrees. Efforts that have been made in c...

Sources of Distress and Coping Strategies Among Emergency Physicians During COVID-19

Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2021

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been shown to increase levels of psychological distress among healthcare workers. Little is known, however, about specific positive and negative individual and organizational factors that affect the mental health of emergency physicians (EP) during COVID-19. Our objective was to assess these factors in a broad geographic sample of EPs in the United States. Methods: We conducted an electronic, prospective, cross-sectional national survey of EPs from October 6–December 29, 2020. Measures assessed negative mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and insomnia), positive work-related outcomes, and strategies used to cope with COVID-19. After preliminary analyses and internal reliability testing, we performed four separate three-stage hierarchical multiple regression analyses to examine individual and organizational predictive factors for psychological distress. Results: Response rate was 50%, w...

Psychological demands of health professionals in the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic

Psicologia, Reflexão e Crítica : revista semestral do Departamento de Psicologia da UFRGS, 2022

Recent literature emphasizes how the specific stressors of the COVID-19 outbreak affect the general population and frontline professionals, including those conducting support or backup activities in health units, which can lead to vicarious traumatization. Vicarious traumatization has been used to describe negative emotional reactions in mental health professionals who assist or treat victims of traumatic events. Thus, the aim of this article is to report the actions used in the face of the psychological demands of professionals in a hospital, who were not on the frontline of COVID-19. We collected their sociodemographic information and checked the psychological impact using the depression, anxiety, and stress scale (DASS-21), which was followed by a psychoeducational program (topics related to COVID-19 control and prevention), and individual psychological care for the most severe cases. A total of 118 professionals participated in this study; they were between 20 and 67 years old. ...

Psychosocial Support for Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Frontiers in Psychology, 2020

The novel corona virus disease COVID-19 was first diagnosed in humans in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Since then it had become a global pandemic. Such a pandemic leads to short-and long-term mental health burden for healthcare workers. Recent surveys suggest that rates of psychological stress, depression, anxiety, and insomnia and will be high for this group. Numerous organizations have since released guidance on how both healthcare workers and the general public can manage the mental health burden. However, these recommendations focus on specific healthcare workers (e.g., nurses or psychologists), are often not evidence-based, and typically do not situate guidance within a phased model that recognizes countries are at different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this perspective paper we propose a phased model of mental health burden and responses. Building on work by the Intensive Care Society and the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, we present a model that demonstrates how both staff and organizations might respond to the likely stressors that might occur at preparation-, pre-, initial and core-, and longer-termphases of the pandemic. Staff within countries at different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic will be able to use this model. We suggest practical tips for both healthcare workers and organizations and embed this within up-to-date scientific literature. The phased model of mental health burden and responses can be a helpful guide for both staff and organizations operating at different stages of the pandemic.

Emergency Medicine Physicians’ Approaches to Coping with Stress in COVID-19 Pandemic

2021

a fatal virus, human-to-human transmission is high, they lack personal protective equipment (PPE), and there is no definitive evidence-based treatment yet (4). Also, physicians' emotional trauma increases even more with the deaths they encounter, including their colleagues (5). In a study by Lai et al. (6); it has been reported that physicians who met the patient first experienced depression, insomnia, and intense anxiety. Work-related stress has psychological consequences such as mood depression, anxiety, and feelings of helplessness (7). It also has physiological results such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease (8,9). The importance of stress management in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases is emphasized in the guideline (9). It leads

Beyond the physical risk: Psychosocial impact and coping in healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021

Aims and objectives: This study aimed to examine the psychosocial impact and identify risk factors for poor psychosocial outcomes in healthcare professionals during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Cyprus. Background: Healthcare professionals are in the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic facing an unprecedented global health crisis, which can have consequences on their psychosocial health. There is a need to identify risk factors for poor psychosocial outcomes to inform the design of tailored psychological interventions. Design: Cross-sectional online study. Methods: A total of 1071 healthcare professionals completed self-report questionnaires. Measures included sociodemographic information, COVID-19- related characteristics, quality of life (Brief World Health Organization Quality of Life; WHOQOL-Bref), anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7; GAD-7), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-8; PHQ-8), occupational burnout (Copenhagen Burnout Inventory; CBI), and coping (Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced; Brief COPE). This article follows the STROBE reporting guidelines. Results: The prevalence of moderate to severe anxiety and clinically significant depression was 27.6% and 26.8%, respectively. Significant risk factors for poor psychological outcomes included being female, being a nurse or doctor (vs non-medical professional), working in frontline units (inpatient, intensive care), perceptions of inadequate workplace preparation to deal with the pandemic, and using avoidance coping. Depression and occupational burnout were significant risk factors for poor quality of life. Conclusion: The findings suggest several individual, psychosocial, and organisational risk factors for the adverse psychological outcomes observed in healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Relevance to clinical practice: This study highlights the urgent need for screening for anxiety and depression and psychological interventions to combat an imminent mental health crisis in healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pandemic response protocols and public health initiatives aiming to improve and prevent mental health problems in healthcare professionals during the current and future health crises, need to account for the various factors at play. KEYWORDS: COVID-19, healthcare professionals, quality of life, anxiety, depression, occupational burnout, coping, SARS-CoV- 2, Pandemic, mental health