Lived experiences of Job Order Health Worker During Pandemic Time

Abstract

Research Question
1. How does pandemic affect the lives of the health workers during Covid 19
pandemic?
2. What are the primarily health concern of our frontliners during pandemic time?
3. How did they overcome the challenges cause by this pandemic?
Hypothesis
The experiences of healthcare workers during COVID 19 pandemic are not
unprecedented; the themes that arose from the previous pandemics and epidemics
were remarkably resonant with what we are hearing about the impact of COVID 19
globally today. We have the opportunity to learn from the lessons of previous crisis,
mitigate the negative mental health impact of COVID 19 and support the longer-term
wellbeing of the healthcare workforce worldwide.
Findings
  Working on the front line of a pandemic can have significant implications for
healthcare workers, putting them at risk of psychological distress and moral injury, as
well as affecting team dynamics. There is striking heterogeneity in the manifestation of
these challenges. Team leaders can use the themes and qualitative data from this study
to help identify areas for management focus and individual and team support.
 Introduction

Research Purpose
This study aimed to investigate the presence of the perceived stressors,
psychological safety and teamwork in healthcare professionals.
Background of the Study
COVID-19 has placed extreme demands on healthcare workers. They have
faced genuine threats to their own physical safety and indirectly to that of their families.
They have had to manage higher numbers of patients with high mortality rates in a high-
pressure environment. They have dealt with challenges in delivering care with strict
infection control measures in place and not always with adequate personal protective
equipment (PPE). Many have been redeployed into new roles, teams or newly purposed
wards so have been working in unfamiliar settings and without established social
support from colleagues. As COVID-19 has progressed around the world, we have
heard repeatedly about the mental health burden faced by frontline healthcare workers
globally as they have worked to treat patients affected by the virus. Media
representations have described frontline healthcare workers “on their knees” in
response to the crisis, leading to forewarning of an ensuing mental health epidemic
amongst the healthcare workforce.
 Literature Review

COVID-19 was first reported in China and later spread across the world causing
panic because there is no cure for it. The pandemic has adversely affected frontline
health workers and patients, owing to poor preparedness. COVID-19 has claimed at
least 302,115 lives since its outbreak in China in December 2019 (European Centre for
Disease Prevention & Control, 2020). The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared
the outbreak a Public Health Emergency on 30th January 2020 posing a high risk to
countries with vulnerable health systems (Sohrabi et al., 2020). Although the incidence
and mortality rates were reducing, there were no guarantees that the disease will not
resurge in the absence of effective vaccine and treatment. According to preliminary
data, the burden of the disease has shown tendency to differ by gender, race and
socioeconomic status (Niedzwiedz et al., 2020; Wu & McGoogan, 2020). The COVID-19
virus has a significant impact on everyone, particularly the frontline healthcare workers.
It has also drastically affected the social and economic set up of communities. With
respect to healthcare workers, it is understandable that frontline health workers are
potentially at risk of contracting the disease owing to their exposure to coronavirus
patients. For many healthcare professionals, this may be a time of increased pressure
and stress (Geurts et al., 1998). Furthermore, the situation was complicated by
discharges of patients with COVID-19 from hospitals into care homes with shortage of
PPE (Ng et al., 2020).

Research Methodology
This study will utilize exploratory qualitative approach. The utilisation of EQA is meant to
better understand the topic as opposed to offering a final solution to the matter under
investigation. The method has a potential to identify possible areas for further
investigations.
 Discussion

When people are affected by a pandemic which is untreatable, there is bound to

be fear and anxiety (Wheaton et al., 2012). Such fear and anxiety can adversely affect
their mental health and well-being. Most of the research participants reported relentless
fear at the back of their minds including uncertainty over whether their personal safety
needs would be met because of PPE shortages. This triggered high levels of stress and
anxiety because of the dilemma of performing their duty of care while in fear of cross
infection. Such a phenomenon is not new with untreatable infections or pandemics as
demonstrated in the early days of HIV and swine flu (Bogart et al., 2008; Jones &
Salathe, 2009). It is, therefore, important that care homes and domiciliary care agencies
have a robust mental health supporting policy for their staff in times of pandemics like
COVID-19 (Holmes et al., 2020). Such a strategic policy can help in improving the
mental health well-being of frontline staff in the organisations in question.

More importantly such support needs to be reflected and supported by the

central government to ensure sustainability, effectiveness and practicability. Recognition
and support of staff in healthcare plays an important role in their motivation, sense of
achievement and security (Sultan et al., 2018). The theory of recognition is not new in
employment psychology and has been used widely to increase efficiency in goal
attainment for different organisations (Grant et al., 2009). The research participants
reported lack of recognition for their contribution in the healthcare system compared to
their counterparts in the NHS as evidenced by the central government designating
certain days and times for recognition of the NHS frontline workers' contribution to the
healthcare system, initially side-lining the private healthcare workers (Abbasi, 2020).
This sentiment projected through the public made staff in private care homes and
domiciliary care agencies feel unappreciated and dejected, sometimes leading to stress
and anxiety (Crowe et al., 2018). There is need for the central government to publicly
appreciate and strengthen the working relations between private and public care
systems with a scope to provide a united front in times of pandemic like COVID-19.

Effective and clear guidance is key to reassurance and confidence of staff during
a crisis in any organisation (Bryson, 2018). Such guidance can prevent worries and
anxiety among staff and can boost confidence and morale. The absence of clear
guidance can equally bring instability and poor mental health well-being on the part of
staff. The research participants reported ever changing guidance from the government
to prevent and manage the COVID-19 pandemic in their respective workplaces. They
also cited frequently changing guidance as creating doubts about operational
procedures, triggering anxiety and fear that they may have already been infected by
COVID-19 through poor practice. It is, therefore, important that there is clear guidance
coming from central government to all care organisations (Kinlaw et al., 2009). Such
guidance should be a product of comprehensive consultation among central
government, responsible institutions and care stakeholders culminating in clear
guidelines and subsequent national policy to manage pandemics like COVID-19. Such a
scenario can circumvent the problems associated with ever evolving guidance, including
negative effects on the mental health and well-being of staff due to poor protocols for
prevention and management of pandemics. More importantly there is need for the
central government to establish an independent agency that provide clear and direct
guidelines in times of pandemic specifically to the private care entities and the NHS.
Although there some advisory and inspection agencies like the Care Quality
Commission (CQC), none of them is specifically meant for pandemic control and
management.
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