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Psychosocial burden of healthcare professionals in times of COVID-19 - a survey conducted at the University Hospital Augsburg.

ABSTRACT: Objective: The outbreak of COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the WHO in March 2020. Studies from China, where the virus first spread, have reported increased psychological strain in healthcare professionals. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychosocial burden of physicians and nurses depending on their degree of contact with COVID-19 patients. In addition, we explored which supportive resources they used and which supportive needs they experienced during the crisis. Methods: Data were collected between March and April 2020 at the University Hospital Augsburg. A total of 75 nurses and 35 physicians, working either in a special COVID-19 ward or in a regular ward, took part in the survey. The participants filled in two standardized questionnaires (the Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ; and the Maslach Burnout Inventory, MBI), and reported their fear of a COVID-19 infection and stress at work on a 10-point Likert scale. Finally, they answered three open-ended questions about causes of burden, supportive resources and needs during the crisis. Results: Nurses working in the COVID-19 wards reported higher levels of stress, exhaustion, and depressive mood, as well as lower levels of work-related fulfilment compared to their colleagues in the regular wards. Physicians reported similar scores independent of their contact with COVID-19 patients. The most common causes for burden were job strain and uncertainty about the future. Psychosocial support as well as leisure time were listed as important resources, and a better infrastructure adjustment to COVID-19 at the hospital (e.g. sufficient staff, keeping teams and working schedules stable) as suggestion for improvement. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that especially nurses working in COVID-19 wards are affected psychologically by the consequences of the pandemic. This might be due to a higher workload and longer time in direct contact with COVID-19 patients, compared to physicians.

SUBMITTER: Zerbini G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7314868 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Psychosocial burden of healthcare professionals in times of COVID-19 - a survey conducted at the University Hospital Augsburg.

Zerbini Giulia G Ebigbo Alanna A Reicherts Philipp P Kunz Miriam M Messman Helmut H

German medical science : GMS e-journal 20200622

<b>Objective:</b> The outbreak of COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the WHO in March 2020. Studies from China, where the virus first spread, have reported increased psychological strain in healthcare professionals. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychosocial burden of physicians and nurses depending on their degree of contact with COVID-19 patients. In addition, we explored which supportive resources they used and which supportive needs they experienced during the crisis. <b>Meth ...[more]

PMID: 32595421

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Following the regional outbreak in China, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread all over the world, presenting the healthcare systems with huge challenges worldwide. In Germany the coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in a slowly growing demand for health care with a sudden occurrence of regional hotspots. This leads to an unpredictable situation for many hospitals, leaving the question of how many bed resources are needed to cope with the surge of COVID-19 patients. OBJECTIVE:In this study we created a simulation-based prognostic tool that provides the management of the University Hospital of Augsburg and the civil protection services with the necessary information to plan and guide the disaster response to the ongoing pandemic. Especially the number of beds needed on isolation wards and intensive care units (ICU) are the biggest concerns. The focus should lie not only on the confirmed cases as the patients with suspected COVID-19 are in need of the same resources. MATERIAL AND METHODS:For the input we used the latest information provided by governmental institutions about the spreading of the disease, with a special focus on the growth rate of the cumulative number of cases. Due to the dynamics of the current situation, these data can be highly variable. To minimize the influence of this variance, we designed distribution functions for the parameters growth rate, length of stay in hospital and the proportion of infected people who need to be hospitalized in our area of responsibility. Using this input, we started a Monte Carlo simulation with 10,000 runs to predict the range of the number of hospital beds needed within the coming days and compared it with the available resources. RESULTS:Since 2 February 2020 a total of 306 patients were treated with suspected or confirmed COVID-19?at this university hospital. Of these 84 needed treatment on the ICU. With the help of several simulation-based forecasts, the required ICU and normal bed capacity at Augsburg University Hospital and the Augsburg ambulance service in the period from 28 March 2020 to 8 June 2020 could be predicted with a high degree of reliability. Simulations that were run before the impact of the restrictions in daily life showed that we would have run out of ICU bed capacity within approximately 1 month. CONCLUSION:Our simulation-based prognosis of the health care capacities needed helps the management of the hospital and the civil protection service to make reasonable decisions and adapt the disaster response to the realistic needs. At the same time the forecasts create the possibility to plan the strategic response days and weeks in advance. The tool presented in this study is, as far as we know, the only one accounting not only for confirmed COVID-19 cases but also for suspected COVID-19 patients. Additionally, the few input parameters used are easy to access and can be easily adapted to other healthcare systems.

Project description:IntroductionAttitudes towards cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) among in-hospital healthcare professionals (HCPs) are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate attitudes towards CPR situations among in-hospital HCPs and assess associations with potential influencing factors.Materials and methodsA questionnaire was distributed to 3,085 HCPs in 2009 and 2,970 HCPs in 2015-2016. The associations of influencing factors were analyzed using binary logistic regression.ResultsIn the event of a possible cardiac arrest situation, 61% of the HCPs would feel confident in their CPR knowledge, 86% would know what to do, and 60% would be able to take command if necessary. In the latest real-life CPR situation, 30% had been worried about making mistakes or causing complications, 57% had been stressed, and 27% had been anxious. A short time since the latest real-life CPR performance and a high number of previous real-life CPR performances were associated with lower odds of worrying about making mistakes/causing complications, lower odds of feeling stressed or anxious, and higher odds of feeling calm. Regardless of previous real-life CPR experience, there were differences in attitudes between groups of professions, where physicians showed increased odds of worrying about making mistakes/causing complications and nurses showed increased odds of stress. Working on a non-monitored ward meant increased odds of stress and worrying about making mistakes/causing complications. Twelve months or more having passed since the latest CPR training course was associated with increased odds of anxiety.ConclusionsDespite HCPs' generally positive attitudes towards performing CPR in the event of a possible cardiac arrest situation, feelings of stress and anxiety were common in real-life CPR situations. Regular CPR training among all HCPs is a key factor to maintain competence and reduce anxiety. The possible effects of attitudes on performing CPR need to be studied further.

Project description:BackgroundHealthcare professionals outside of medicine (HCPs), including nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, are increasingly involved in research for patient benefit. Their challenge is to negotiate inter-professional or professionally isolated contexts. The aims of this study were to evaluate the 'Healthcare Professionals in Research' (HPiR) Facebook group (a self-directed and confidential peer support group for doctoral and postdoctoral HCPs) including engagement, the experiences of doctoral and postdoctoral HPiR members and to identify future career challenges using an on-line survey.MethodsThe HPiR Facebook group was launched in May 2019. Five HCP Community managers (CMs) were trained in on-line platform curation, moderation and screening. An on-line survey was designed to capture data from HPiR members. A purposive sampling approach was applied. Respondents were required to be doctoral and postdoctoral HCPs and a registered member of the HPiR group. Respondents represented a range of healthcare professions, 79 % of whom had over ten years clinical experience. Membership growth and engagement was analysed. Descriptive statistics were used to present numerical data. Qualitative data were analysed thematically.Results96 members were admitted to the group within the first month. All members were actively engaged with group content. 34/96 doctoral and postdoctoral HCPs completed the survey. Most members joined for networking (88 %) and peer support (82 %) purposes. Analysis of text responses showed difficulties in balancing a clinical academic career and highlighted the consequences of undefined clinical academic roles and pathways.ConclusionsDoctoral and postdoctoral HCPs value the opportunities that HPiR provides for peer support and connection with fellow HCPs. HPiR has the potential to strengthen research capacity, support research skill development and drive change within the clinical academic community. Clinical academic roles and pathways need to be standardised. The creation of opportunities beyond doctoral studies is a priority.

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Psychosocial burden of healthcare professionals in times of COVID-19 - a survey conducted at the University Hospital Augsburg.

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Psychosocial burden of healthcare professionals in times of COVID-19 - a survey conducted at the University Hospital Augsburg.

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