Resilience and Emotions of Frontline Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Healthcare Workers During the Novel Coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19)
Pandemic: Cross-sectional Retrospective Descriptive Study
Abstract
Objective: To explore impact of COVID-19 outbreak on resilience and
emotions of frontline healthcare workers (HCW) during the pandemic
Design: Cross-sectional retrospective descriptive study Setting: KK
Women and Children’s Hospital, Singapore, Department of Obstetrics and
Gynaecology, between 7 February to 30 April 2020 Population: One hundred
and one (101) HCW who worked in COVID-19 screening facilities and wards
Methods: The participants were given a survey designed to understand
their emotions when caring for patients with suspected or confirmed
COVID-19, and how their various aspects of health were affected. The
Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) was used to evaluate their resilience.
Results: Normal resilience scores were found in 72.6% of HCW, 11.3%
had high resilience scores while 16.1% had low resilience scores.
Doctors had higher resilience scores than nurses (3.8 vs 3.3, p-value
0.017). HCWs perceived their mental health was most affected, followed
by social and physical health as a result of COVID-19 related work. The
main stressors faced were related to their personal safety and that of
their family. A positive attitude at work with good teamwork, time away
from routine clinical work and appreciation received helped to relieve
the emotional and psychological stress faced. Conclusion: It is
essential to explore appropriate interventions for HCW with low
resilience to better assist the coping mechanism during this pandemic.
Stressors identified and feedback received through this study are useful
for implementing supportive workforce resources during an infectious
disease outbreak.