“The little lights in this dark tunnel”: Emotional support of nurses working in COVID-19 acute care hospital environments

Abstract

Background: Working on the frontlines of hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging and distressing for nurses. The troublesome nature of these emotions have surfaced because of uncharted territory related to this virus, compromised work conditions, unfavourable patient outcomes, and the witnessing of suffering and loss. Although there has been renewed emphasis on how to emotionally support nurses, the nature of support needed is somewhat unknown considering that healthcare professionals have not experienced a pandemic of this magnitude in their lifetime. Aim: We explored how nurses were emotionally supported and how they can be better supported while working in COVID-19 acute care hospital environments. Methods: In this narrative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 registered nurses working in hospitals in the Greater Toronto Area and working on units caring for COVID-19+ patients. Results and Conclusions: Our findings reflected the organic emergence of support, intentional forms of support, and the social justice nature of support. It is important for hospital and government leaders to employ a multifold approach to emotionally support nurses. These supports include information transparency, visible presence of leadership, and recognition of nurses’ contributions. While emotionally supporting nurses, these types of resources can act as “little lights in this dark tunnel” of COVID-19 and illuminate a path forward. Implications: Some strategies relevant to clinical practice include regular rounding of units by leaders, and transparent communication about information and resources. Other strategies are on-site psychological support and legitimate support of mental health sick days as well as lobbying governments for financial compensation for the risky work involved in being a frontline provider and appropriate provision of personal protective equipment.

“I Called us the Sacrificial Lambs”: Experiences of Nurses Working in Border City Hospitals During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…However, participants continued to work toward finding new ways to nurse and discovered new roles related to advocacy and leadership. Similar to findings by Lapum et al (2021b ) they described improvements in work relationships and dynamics and often a closer sense of connection to their teams than pre-pandemic. Outside of the job, they weathered significant disruptions of day-to-day living (e.g., social dynamics, financial issues), a common experience for healthcare workers around the world (e.g., Crowe et al, 2021; Halcomb et al, 2020 ).…”

Does Servant Leadership Control Psychological Distress in Crisis? Moderation and Mediation Mechanism

“…9–12 There is a crucial need to investigate servant leadership that has a prime focus on the employee’s psychological distress so that healthcare workers may feel motivated in the hospitals while serving the Covid −19 patients. 13 , 14 This is significant as the psychological satisfaction of medical healthcare workers is imperative in providing care to infected people. This is also important for jobs as the demand for psychologically competent people increases due to professional risks in controlling infection, loneliness, and depression.…”