Lessons From the First Wave of COVID-19: Work-Related Consequences, Clinical Knowledge, Emotional Distress, and Safety-Conscious Behavior in Healthcare Workers in Switzerland

Abstract

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) imposes an unusual risk to the physical and mental health of healthcare workers and thereby to the functioning of healthcare systems during the crisis. This study investigates the clinical knowledge of healthcare workers about COVID-19, their ways of acquiring information, their emotional distress and risk perception, their adherence to preventive guidelines, their changed work situation due to the pandemic, and their perception of how the healthcare system has coped with the pandemic. It is based on a quantitative cross-sectional survey of 185 Swiss healthcare workers directly attending to patients during the pandemic, with 22% (n = 40) of them being assigned to COVID-19-infected patients. The participants answered between 16th June and 15th July 2020, shortly after the first wave of COVID-19 had been overcome and the national government had relaxed its preventive regulations to a great extent. The questionnaire incorporated parts of the “Standard questionnaire on risk perception of an infectious disease outbreak” (version 2015), which were adapted to the case of COVID-19. Clinical knowledge was lowest regarding the effectiveness of standard hygiene (p < 0.05). Knowledge of infectiousness, incubation time, and life-threatening disease progression was higher, however still significantly lower than regarding asymptomatic cases and transmission without physical contact (p < 0.001). 70% (95%-confidence interval: 64-77%) of the healthcare workers reported considerable emotional distress on at least one of the measured dimensions. They worried significantly more strongly about patients, elderly people, and family members, than about their own health (p < 0.001). Adherence to (not legally binding) preventive guidelines by the government displayed patterns such that not all guidelines were followed equally. Most of the participants were faced with a lack of protective materials, personnel, structures, processes, and contingency plans. An increase in stress level was the most prevalent among the diverse effects the pandemic had on their work situation. Better medical equipment (including drugs), better protection for their own mental and physical health, more (assigned) personnel, more comprehensive information about the symptoms of the disease, and a system of earlier warning were the primary lessons to be learned in view of upcoming waves of the pandemic.

Influence of nursing staff working hours on stress levels during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…This is in line with two studies, which were conducted before COVID-19 pandemic and reported a moderate stress level among nurses (Almazan et al 2019;Keykaleh et al 2018). In a more recent study 70% of the participants experienced emotional distress (Riguzzi and Gashi 2021). In this study they used one question on how worried the participants felt, because of the possibility of (1) "getting COVID-19 yourself," (2) "family/friends getting COVID-19," and ( 3) "numerous cases of death among old and sick people due to COVID-19", which can be rated by a 4-point Likert scale.…”

“…This is surprising, as the Austrian government recommended in mid-March that all unnecessary health treatments, e.g. knee replacement surgery, should be postponed, which should have decreased the number of hospital patients (Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection, Bundesministerium für Soziales Gesundheit Pflege und Konsumentenschutz 2020); however, a more recent study on COVID-19 among healthcare workers reported that nearly one third stated that they have to work more than usual (Riguzzi and Gashi 2021).…”

“…Whereas Almazan et al concluded that the average number of working hours per week was a significant predictor of stress (2019) the other study reported that high stress can lead to a decline in the quality of nursing care (Keykaleh et al 2018). Another study reported that 70% of the healthcare workers experienced emotional distress (Riguzzi and Gashi 2021). In addition, caring for persons affected by COVID-19-or suspected cases might also influence the nurses' level of stress (Mo et al 2020).…”

COVID-19 in Egypt after a year: the first and second pandemic waves from the radiological point of view; multi-center comparative study on 2000 patients

“…On June 13, 2020, 41,303 cases and 1422 deaths were reported nearly at the peak of the first pandemic wave [ 4 ]. On September 2, 2020, 99,280 cases and over 5400 deaths were reported [ 5 ] and in mid-October, 2020, the second pandemic wave was announced [ 6 ] and reached its peak in December 2020 and January 2021.…”

How anxious were Quebec healthcare professionals during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic? A web-based cross-sectional survey

“…The absence of association between caring for patients with COVID-19 and anxiety scores could be explained by HCPs' perception that such experience may help them grow as a person and professional [72]. Better knowledge of the disease and health safety measures [7,90], the experience gained since the outbreak of the pandemic [91], and the increased availability of PPE [7] may have strengthened the confidence of Quebec HCPs caring for patients with COVID-19, thus reducing their anxiety level.…”