COVID‐19 under the SARS Cloud: Mental Health Nursing during the Pandemic in Hong Kong

Abstract

This editorial presents a commentary on COVID-19 and mental health in Hong Kong. We outline the current measures being used to contain the outbreak and how the experience of the SARS epidemic may have influenced the response in Hong Kong. We also discuss the potential mental health ill-effects of the pandemic and its impact on mental health nursing locally. | RELE VAN CE S TATEMENTThis editorial provides an overview of the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and mental health nursing in Hong Kong. The discussion shares our experiences and briefly summarizes the limited evidence to date. The potential consequences of the pandemic for mental health nurses and future research are outlined.

Evaluation of health-related quality of life using EQ-5D in China during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…The logistic regression analysis showed similar trend in pain/discomfort domain. Based on earlier experiences of SARS, MERS [34,35] and the limited recent evidence about get COVID-19 [36,37], pain/discomfort was associated with older age, low educational level, clinical severity, depression, anxiety, low quality of life. It is important to realize about pain/discomfort in the population during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Expert Consensus on Nurses’ Human Caring for COVID-19 Patients in Different Sites

“…With a high infection rate, rapid spread, and uncertain clinical course duration, the COVID-19 can lead infected patients into critical conditions, and even death [2] . The unexpected infection of COVID-19 not only threatens the patient's health and life, but also seriously affects the patient's psychological state [3][4][5] , such as the fear and irritability caused by the uncertainty and the unknown outcome of the disease, the loneliness and helplessness resulting from the prohibiting of visit by family members and friends during hospitalization and isolation, the anxiety and depression in knowing about the infection of their relatives and friends. The patients with COVID-19 may go through several stages in different sites, such as fever clinic visiting, mobile cabin hospital, designated hospital treatment, centralized medical isolation observation, home isolation, even rehabilitation clinic visiting [6][7][8][9][10][11] .…”

Adaptations and Lessons from COVID-19: A Perspective on How some Industries will be Impacted

“…In the US alone, a $2 trillion relief bill provided cash to most US families, business loans, and a further $100 billion for hospitals due to COVID-19 impacts. Anxiety among healthcare workers has increased due to extended work hours and potential exposure to infected patients [32]. Hospitals have had to implement preventive measures such as patients informing hospitals before arriving with symptoms of respiratory illness.…”

“…Hospitals have had to implement preventive measures such as patients informing hospitals before arriving with symptoms of respiratory illness. Patient visits to general practitioners (GP) have also drastically reduced [32]. Unemployment among health care professionals has increased, although there has been a rise in the demand for nursing staff.…”

“…Due to prioritization measures in hospitals, there has been a drastic reduction in elective surgeries, with cosmetic surgeries having halting in many parts of the world. There is also significant reduction in the number of non-essential surgeries [32]. Predominantly, surgeries are only performed in life threatening circumstances.…”