Tough Conditions Under COVID-19
The pandemic has taken a heavy toll on frontline workers in healthcare, placing them at both tremendous physical and mental risk as they work to treat those stricken by COVID-19. Those who treat coronavirus patients labor under a heavy mental and emotional load; they’re worried about their own exposure to the virus and the potential to transmit it to loved ones, especially in areas where PPE is inadequate.
In “hot spots” where wards are at capacity and new cases are flooding in, the struggle to give adequate care—and offer companionship to those suffering—under intense time pressures takes a heavy toll. Physicians, advanced practitioners and nurses “drafted” from other specialties into COVID care may feel inadequately prepared for their new duties.
How a Pandemic Playbook Can Help
Under these conditions, physician well being—a concern for healthcare leaders in the best of times—comes under sharp attack. Protocols for treating COVID-19 patients are crucial, of course, but the need for a “Pandemic Playbook” to mitigate healthcare workers’ stress is also important. Enacting a comprehensive yet proactive set of principles, rooted in basic values for supporting the medical workforce at any time and geared to the acute stressors of the pandemic, can drastically remove confusion at the organizational level and leave healthcare team members with a stronger sense of safety and comfort in the midst of an uncomfortable situation.
Download the infographic to learn more about the issues clinicians are faced with and information on how your organization can assist their needs. For more about the value of understanding physicians' struggles, advice on how to cope with stress and fatigue and practical methods on how to assist your healthcare workers during a global pandemic, download our article, How to Lead Your Organization Through COVID-19.
