Effects of COVID-19 on Health Care Workers.

COVID-19 continues to spread across the United States with a continued increase in reported infections and deaths. How this virus effects pregnancy, particularly mothers and their infants around and after delivery, is of particular concern for health care workers. Moreover, concerns for compassion fatigue in the health care worker, as they attempt to provide comprehensive care to this population, is a documented concern that could have long-term effects on workers' ability to provide care. This article will describe the current concerns for the transmission of COVID-19 from the mother to the infant and how that has affected recommendations from several national and international organizations around maternal/infant testing, isolation, breastfeeding, and the infant requiring neonatal intensive care. Effects that changing recommendations may have on health care workers and care delivery, and how these may contribute to compassion fatigue, will also be discussed.

Evaluation of stress, burnout and hair cortisol levels in health workers at a University Hospital during COVID-19 pandemic.

In the critical context of COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers are on the front line, participating directly in the care, diagnosis, and treatment of patients with COVID-19. This exposes them to a higher risk of developing chronic stress, psychological distress, and any other mental health symptoms. OBJECTIVE: to evaluate stress and burnout in a health workers population and, in addition, to measure hair cortisol concentration as a current biomarker of stress. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 234 health workers from Hospital de Clínicas "José de San Martín", Buenos Aires University, were included in this study. In this population hair samples were obtained from the posterior vertex as close to the scalp as possible and the individuals completed the following surveys: perceived stress, social support, burnout scale, life event scale, and sociodemographic data. Hair cortisol was measured by an automated chemiluminescent method. The studied population was divided into three groups considering those individuals below the healthy reference sample range (< 40 pg/mg hair), within the healthy reference range (40-128 pg/mg hair) and above the reference range (> 128 pg/mg hair). This study used a transversal and observational design. RESULTS: Our results show that 40% of the studied population presented hair cortisol values outside of the healthy reference range. In the whole studied population, a direct correlation was found between hair cortisol concentration and perceived stress as well as between hair cortisol concentration and the emotional exhaustion component of burnout (r = 0.142, p = 0.030; r = 0.143, p = 0.029, respectively). 12% of the studied population showed Burnout (52% doctors and residents, 19% nurses, 19% administrative personnel). Higher values in hair cortisol levels were found in the group with burnout versus individuals without burnout (p = 0.034). Finally, a mediation analysis was performed, finding that depersonalization is a mediating variable in the relationship between self-perceived stress and hair cortisol level (F = 4.86, p = 0.0086; indirect effect IC: 0.0987-1.8840). CONCLUSION: This is the first study in which a stress biomarker such as hair cortisol is evaluated in this population and in this context. Healthcare workers are subjected to increased levels of stress and burnout. High depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and decreased personal sense of accomplishment characterize this population. It is the responsibility of the health authorities to implement strategies to manage this psychological emergency.

Survey on perceived work stress and its influencing factors among hospital staff during the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan.

This study aimed to investigate the perceived work stress and its influencing factors among hospital staff during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Taiwan. A web-based survey was conducted at one medical center and two regional hospitals in southern Taiwan, targeting physicians, nurses, medical examiners, and administrators. The questionnaire included items on the demographic characteristics of hospital staff and a scale to assess stress among healthcare workers caring for patients with a highly infectious disease. A total of 752 valid questionnaires were collected. The hospital staff reported a moderate level of stress and nurses had a highest level of stress compared to staff in the other three occupational categories. The five highest stress scores were observed for the items "rough and cracked hands due to frequent hand washing and disinfectant use," "inconvenience in using the toilet at work," "restrictions on eating and drinking at work," "fear of transmitting the disease to relatives and friends," and "fear of being infected with COVID-19." Discomfort caused by protective equipment was the major stressor for the participants, followed by burden of caring for patients. Among participants who experienced severe stress (n = 129), work stress was higher among those with rather than without minor children. The present findings may serve as a reference for future monitoring of hospital staff's workload, and may aid the provision of support and interventions.

Sleep and Motion Disorders of Physicians and Nurses Working in Hospitals Facing the Pandemic of COVID 19.

INTRODUCTION: Several research studies have started to investigate the health conditions of medical doctors and nurses in order to find a relationship if any between their work environment, their usually heavy duties and the result of these two parametric on patients' health. AIM: The present research study is an effort to investigate the relationship between the physical activity and sleep disorders among health care professionals, particularly among medical doctors and nurses. METHODS: Participants of the study were asked to fill a questionnaire which was a mixture of other internationally accredited questionnaires regarding physical activity level as well as sleeping functions. Data were collected among 204 physicians and nurses. The statistical analysis revealed a correlation between physical activity and some aspects of sleep disorders. RESULTS: A total number of 204 questionnaires have been distributed to medical doctors and nurses working in public hospitals in Athens Greece from the middle of February until the middle of April 2020. The hospitals were assigned by the health authorities to the fight of the pandemic of COVID 19. The majority of the participants were women 71,3% and 28,7% were men. From a total of 204 half of them were medical doctors and half of them were nurses. 43% were married, 49% were single and 8% were divorced and there were no widows. Regarding the participant nurses, 43% had a university degree and 38,4% had a technological education degree. The results of the statistical analysis showed that there are positive correlations between the level of physical activity during the daily work and the free time of the participants with parameters that are related to sleep disorders. CONCLUSION: The sample of the study was not a large one but nevertheless a stressful situation such as is the epidemic of COVID19 can provide useful information in order to better understand the relationship between physical activity and sleeping disorders in such working conditions.