This article was originally published in The Conversation, a source of independent, non-profit data, research and observation from education experts. Disclosure data must be held on the original website.
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Authors: Jody Ralph, Associate Professor, Nursing, University of Windsor; Dana Menard, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Windsor; Kendall Soucie, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Windsor, and Laurie A. Freeman, Associate Professor, Nursing, University of Windsor
The Nurse’s Year drew more attention to the “heroes of fitness care”: the nurses running in front of COVID-19. However, despite the public’s appreciation, it becomes clear that many nurses do not get what they want to feel safe in the paintings and maintain their physical condition and well-being.
As researchers in psychology and nursing at the University of Windsor, we sought a deep understanding of what nurses on a border with the idea of the city would paint the pandemic.
SARS evidence in 2003 indicates that nurses can delight with significant and long-term intellectual aptitude effects through pandemic management. Initial studies in China and Italy have shown that nurses administering the COVID-19 outbreak in these countries have reported higher rates of depression, anxiety and sleep disorders.
Travelling to a border town
As a border town, Windsor, Ontario, is home to nurses who live and paint locally, but also a significant number that stops at hospitals in Detroit, Michigan, on a regular basis. Significant racial inequalities and physical fitness disparities in the city’s population.
Detroit hospitals have their Canadian nursing staff. In 2016, 20% of the nurses working at Henry Ford Hospital were Canadian, and a total of 1,600 Windsor citizens reported running to physical care facilities in Detroit. The continued capacity of these hospitals to function and after the pandemic depends on the retention of Canadian staff.
In May and June 2020, our team interviewed 32 women and five nurses living in Windsor who worked in physical care facilities in Windsor (20 nurses) or Detroit (17 nurses). They worked in extensive care units, COVID-specific units, labor and delivery units, emergency departments and cash hospitals, with nursing experience ranging from 1.5 to 36 years.
Concerns about the circle of family members and intellectual health.
Nurses have consistently reported an increase in intellectual aptitude problems, difficulty coping and significant dissatisfaction with the point of being provided through their hospitals.
The nurses felt that their organizations and managers varied from office to office and unit to unit. Some felt well educated, but many said they were not appreciated, and mentioned organizations that fired them, stopped employers’ contributions to pension funds, or did not provide the PPE well enough. One player noted:
“I didn’t point out not protecting me, you know, I think I deserve as a nurse to have at least that.
Despite increasing degrees of depression and anxiety, there was a strong sense that references to employee assistance plans (EEPs) were not sufficient. In general, we found that nurses were strangely resistant to the concept of formal intellectual aptitude. They felt more comfortable asking their co-workers or “relatives’ work circle” than members of the circle of relatives or non-nurses or organizations. Many expressed fear that the hospital leadership’s quest for help would be perceived as a sign of weakness. One player said:
“God forbid, you say intellectual aptitude or tensionArray … then they’ll take you out of your unit and tell you, they’ll put you at the front door as a welcome.”
The nurses also expressed considerations about their own aptitude and that of their circle of relatives. They described the difficulties in balancing quality patient care with “group care,” which limited their time in patients’ rooms, and the emotional cost of “facetime death,” as one player called it: holding electronic tablets while dying patients say goodbye. to their families.
They have experienced difficulties navigating evolving hospital policies (sometimes in a single shift), gaps between government and hospital recommendations, the inability to resurrect avoidable or forced prescriptions, and insufficient access to PPE.
Many reported sleep problems, nightmares, fatigue, increased irritability, increased alcohol consumption, poor eating behavior and the use of sleeping pills and cannabis. Many have moved away from their families and missed moments in their children’s lives and key stages of development. One player said:
“I missed the total of my son’s exploration.”
Many nurses spoke of inequity and ethical prejudice. They expressed frustration with doctors and men with facial hair who receive higher PPE, transition workers (i.e. nurses) receive a higher salary and/or hours, are reassigned to multiple sets, and act on non-nursing responsibilities, such as cleaning positive rooms at COVID-19. Nurses felt more willing to be reassigned if they volunteered, but not if they were forced (and some were).
Some nurses have been encouraged to purchase their own personal protective equipment for use at work, such as Amazon face screens or even buy waterproofs. Almost everyone we interviewed expressed fear for the time being and the third wave and the preparation of the hospital.
Hero… Stigmatized
The nurses expressed appreciation for the network’s reactions (e.g., applause, food donations, business breakdown), but also felt a great stigma as “disease carriers”. One player shared:
“[The audience] helps keep saying, “Oh, nurses are heroes. Doctors are heroes. They do a lot for us. “You’re in a robe and they say, ‘They’re contaminated, keep them away, they’re contagious.’ “
There were differences in responses between the nurses hired in Detroit and those who worked at Windsor. In general, nurses working on the Michigan border side reported increased patient mortality, shortages of PPE, network stigma, and dissatisfaction with hospital administration. However, these effects are confusing due to the increased intensity and speed of the COVID-19 pandemic in Detroit compared to Windsor, and cannot be interpreted for sure.
Most nurses have indicated that they do not plan to leave nursing, however, many plan to replace sets or careers if the pandemic continues for months or even years. The nurses also pointed to problems that the public would possibly not be aware of: a moratorium on organ donation, a minimum reduction in the quality of care, or the threat of piracy of online meetings between family members and patients.
Rapid intervention and the availability of supports is needed to temporarily treat symptoms of intellectual fitness disorders and loss of nursing work that has been observed after previous outbreaks, such as SARS, which can exacerbate the pre-pandemic shortage of nurses in Canada.
Nursing is a career known for its reliability and determination to provide quality care. As a community, we want answers that go beyond a pat on the back and the “hero” label, but that face harmful career situations and provide practical and effective support.
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This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Disclosure data must be held on the original website. Read the original article:
https://theconversation.com/heroes-or-just-doing-our-job-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-registered-nurses-in-a-border-city-143787