Preserving Organizational Resilience, Patient Safety, and Staff Retention during COVID-19 Requires a Holistic Consideration of the Psychological Safety of Healthcare Workers

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers are fighting a lethal virus with acute shortages of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). These unprecedented circumstances have amplified the sources of emotional distress and worker burnout. However, many healthcare organizations (HCOs) in the United States, have opted for a “stoic approach” to healthcare worker support, i.e., no additional support beyond federal and state policy protections for the licensing and liability of healthcare workers. In this scenario, a key public health concern is sustaining an adequate healthcare workforce, both by way of quantity (adequate numbers) and quality (maximizing clinician resilience to provide safe care to large volumes of patients under challenging conditions). Therefore, it is imperative for HCO leaders to recognize that a limited view of worker psychological safety, without due consideration for the broader emotional distress created by the pandemic, could have the effect of restricting organizational resilience and adversely impacting patient safety and staff retention during and beyond the pandemic. This paper uses the organizational resilience framework to discuss the potential impact of a stoic approach to healthcare worker support on patient safety and staff retention in a hospital intensive care unit (ICU) during COVID-19. The discussion in turn, helps to develop recommendations for HCOs to overcome these challenges.

Mental Health of Medical and Non-Medical Professionals during the Peak of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Nationwide Study

“…Similarly, another study reported that 63% of medical workers in Wuhan, China, demonstrated various psychopathological symptoms [ 19 ]. However, a lower prevalence of psychopathological symptoms compared to in our study was observed by the authors of the recent cross-sectional survey study based on over 4000 healthcare workers from Wuhan in which 39.1% of the study participants had psychological distress [ 20 ]. Lai et al suggested that nurses, women, frontline medical workers and those working in Wuhan, China, were more likely to report various psychopathological symptoms [ 18 ], which is consistent with our findings in the relation to female sex.…”

Health System Adaptability at Primary Level Care in the Time of COIVD-19: Experiences From Ethiopia

“…The 'willingness' dimension was found to be the lowest, (61.6%) reducing the overall preparedness score to 73.1%. This aligns with the literature, which underscores the importance of health worker psychological safety in serving as pre-requisites for organizational resilience (20). During normal circumstances, working in health care is recognized to be emotionally distressing (21).…”

Levels of resilience, anxiety and depression in nurses working in respiratory clinical areas during the COVID pandemic

“…Supporting employees in the workplace, listening and acting on genuine family concerns, particularly during pandemic and crisis situations, can enhance front line experiences and enable confidence in employers. Therefore, healthcare leaders need to consider how to support healthcare workers during the pandemic, to reduce emotional distress and risks staff have taken [ 34 ]. The COVID-19 pandemic has enabled many people to work remotely to prevent unnecessary cross-infection, however the lack of visibility of management has been highlighted by some [ 35 ].…”