Allison A. Norful - April 22, 2020

Allison A. Norful PhD, RN, ANP-BC, "The impact of COVID-19 on the physical and psychological health of frontline healthcare workforce"

Dr. Norful outlined the potential health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the frontline healthcare workforce including primary causes of burnout, facilitators to stress management, and the potential long-term health impact. She and colleagues are using the Donabedian quality of care model—which looks at the structure of the environment, the processes put in place and the outcome of measures—to examine workforce perspectives about the physical and psychological effects of the COVID-19 response. In their pilot study they conducted in-person and telephone interviews of 80 workforce positions (physicians, patients, nurses, pharmacists, techs, and leadership) and found that there were reported changes in physical health (fatigue, heart palpitations, no change in pre-existing chronic conditions, insomnia/change in sleep, decreased physical activity/exercise) as well as psychological health (high anxiety, limited depressive symptoms, excessive worry, decreased burnout, moral fatigue). Many healthcare settings have implemented strategies to improve wellbeing (support groups, changing workflow to encourage on-site breaks, and designated safe spaces for those breaks), promote positivity (celebrating daily goals, promoting progress, working in solidarity), and provide stress mitigation resources (effective communication with leadership, clear protocols, time off etc.). She hopes that this study will inform a larger quantitative survey to determine the longitudinal impact on stress relief outcomes to: (1) build evidence about organizational and team infrastructure that optimize workforce and patient outcomes; (2) inform development and evaluation of stress mitigation initiatives; and (3) reduce physical and psychological health risk in the workforce.