Impacts of Covid-19 on Front Line Workers - Free Essay Sample

The coronavirus, shortly known as COVID-19, has spread worldwide and has affected almost every one of us in one way or another. Whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or psychosocially almost everyone has had their share of effects that have come alongside the infamous pandemic. At the frontline of the war against this invisible and seemingly invincible enemy are healthcare workers who have had their fair share of the challenges brought about by the virus (Nguyen et al., 2020). Physically, they have faced a whole lot of challenges. One, and probably the most common and obvious, is the risk of exposure to a highly infectious disease. This is due to the direct handling of the increasing number of patients with the disease daily. Many healthcare workers across the globe have been infected, and sadly some of them have even lost their lives from the raging infection in trying to save lives.

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Physical fatigue is another effect on health workers. This is a result of a sudden increase in workload due to an increasing number of patients daily. Initially, most nurses had a one-to-one ratio with patients, but the pandemic has led to nurses working on several patients at a go and for prolonged hours, which is tedious (Que et al., 2020). Also, prolonged use of personal protective equipment, PPEs, may damage the skin, as seen in several parts of the world, which is another effect.

A shortage of PPEs is a significant challenge to healthcare workers and increases their chances of getting exposed to viral infections. The pandemic has also had a substantial impact on the mental well-being of healthcare workers across the world. One of the significant mental effects is fear (Nguyen et al., 2020). We all know how fear paralyzes us when it creeps into our minds. Healthcare workers worldwide experience a lot of anxiety, fear of getting infected, fear of losing a patient, or fear of losing a loved one. This dramatically affects aspects such as decision-making and critical thinking, which are vital in their work line, especially during the pandemic.

Mental stress is also another major issue. This is caused by several factors such as increased workload under high pressure, adjusting to new and frequently changing protocols at work, fear of contraction of the infection, or fear of losing a family member. Other mental effects include depression, anxiety, and insomnia, among several others (Que et al., 2020). All these results from seeing patients lose lives daily, and their family members not being around as they die. Seeing their colleagues get ill and pass away also causes adverse mental effects on healthcare workers.

I have also had my fair share of impact. Every day I see people losing lives, and it is a traumatic experience for me. Isolation from others has also had an enormous impact. Human beings are social beings, and when isolated, it causes many mental effects mentioned above.

References

Nguyen, L. H., Drew, D. A., Graham, M. S., Joshi, A. D., Guo, C. G., Ma, W., ... & Kwon, S. (2020). Risk of COVID-19 among front-line health-care workers and the general community: a prospective cohort study. The Lancet Public Health, 5(9), e475-e483.

Que, J., Le Shi, J. D., Liu, J., Zhang, L., Wu, S., Gong, Y., & Ran, M. (2020). The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers: a cross-sectional study in China. General psychiatry, 33(3).