Radboud University Medical Center, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, IQ Healthcare, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Centre for Infectious Disease Control, Preparedness and Response Unit, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Centre for Infectious Disease Control, Preparedness and Response Unit, Bilthoven, The Netherlands; Centre for Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands.
J Hosp Infect. 2018 Feb;98(2):212-218. doi: 10.1016/j.jhin.2017.07.001. Epub 2017 Jul 6.
Healthcare workers (HCWs) face specific challenges in infectious disease outbreaks, which provide unusual, new events with exposure risk. The fear of infection or new, unknown tasks in an unfamiliar setting, for example, may complicate outbreak management.
To gain insight into how healthcare organizations can prepare to meet the needs of their HCWs by capturing the experiences of HCWs with patients with suspected Ebola virus disease.
We conducted 23 in-depth interviews with HCWs, of whom 20 worked in a Dutch university hospital and three worked in a regional ambulance service. We invited HCWs who cared for patients with suspected Ebola or who were on the team preparing for admission of such patients in the period 2014-2015.
The HCWs were stressed and anxious, but most rated their overall experience as positive. We categorized the reported experiences in three main themes, namely, experiences related to: (i) the novelty of the threat, (ii) the risk of infection and fear of transmission, and (iii) the excessive attention. Our results underline the importance of a supportive working environment suitable for crises.
The experiences of HCWs dealing with patients with suspected Ebola can direct improvements in generic preparedness for highly transmissible diseases.
医护人员（HCWs）在传染病爆发时面临特殊挑战，因为这会带来具有暴露风险的非常规、新事件。例如，对感染的恐惧或在不熟悉的环境中执行新的、未知任务，可能会使疫情管理复杂化。
通过了解医护人员在照顾疑似埃博拉病毒病患者方面的经验，深入了解医疗机构如何为满足医护人员的需求做好准备。
我们对 23 名医护人员进行了深入访谈，其中 20 名在荷兰一家大学医院工作，3 名在地区救护车服务机构工作。我们邀请了在 2014-2015 年期间照顾疑似埃博拉患者或参与准备收治此类患者的医护人员接受访谈。
医护人员感到压力和焦虑，但大多数人对整体经历的评价还是积极的。我们将报告的经历分为三个主要主题，即：（i）威胁的新颖性，（ii）感染风险和传播恐惧，以及（iii）过度关注。我们的研究结果强调了为危机提供支持性工作环境的重要性。
处理疑似埃博拉患者的医护人员的经验可以为高传染性疾病的通用准备提供改进方向。
