Department of Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute, St Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
Saul R. Korey Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
Headache. 2020 Sep;60(8):1837-1845. doi: 10.1111/head.13932. Epub 2020 Aug 19.
On March 11, 2020, the infection caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus was declared a pandemic. Throughout this pandemic, healthcare professionals (HCPs) have experienced difficulties stemming from poor communications, resource scarcity, lack of transparency, disbelief, and threats to the safety of their loved ones, their patients, and themselves. As part of these hardships, negative statements have been heard repeatedly. This paper describes 11 scenarios of unhelpful and dysfunctional messages heard by the authors and their colleagues during the COVID-19 pandemic, reported to us by a combination of peers, administrative leadership, and the public. We explain why not to use such messaging, and we suggest more helpful and compassionate expressions based upon recommendations published by scientific organizations and well-established psychological principles. The first 10 scenarios discussed include (1) lack of understanding regarding the extent of the pandemic; (2) shaming over not seeing patients in person; (3) lack of clear and consistent communication from leadership on pandemic-related practice changes; (4) opinions that personal protective equipment (PPE) use by HCPs causes fear or is unnecessary; (5) forcing in-person care without appropriate PPE; (6) the risk of exposure to asymptomatic individuals as it relates to opening clinics; (7) media gag orders; (8) pay and benefit reductions; (9) spreading of misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic; and (10) workload expectations. The 11th scenario addresses HCPs' psychological and physical reactions to this challenging and prolonged stressful situation. We close by discussing the need for support and compassion at this difficult and unpredictable time and by offering suggestions to foster resilience and feelings of self-efficacy among HCPs.
2020 年 3 月 11 日，由 2019 冠状病毒病（COVID-19）病毒引起的感染被宣布为大流行。在整个大流行期间，医疗保健专业人员（HCP）经历了因沟通不畅、资源匮乏、缺乏透明度、不信任以及对其亲人、患者和自身安全的威胁而导致的困难。作为这些困难的一部分，人们反复听到一些负面言论。本文描述了作者及其同事在 COVID-19 大流行期间听到的 11 种无益和功能失调的信息场景，这些场景是由同行、行政领导和公众向我们报告的。我们解释了为什么不使用此类信息，并根据科学组织和成熟的心理原则发布的建议，提出了更有帮助和更有同情心的表达方式。前 10 个讨论的场景包括：（1）对大流行程度缺乏了解；（2）因无法亲自看诊而感到羞耻；（3）领导层在与大流行相关的实践变更方面缺乏明确和一致的沟通；（4）认为 HCP 使用个人防护设备（PPE）会引起恐惧或没有必要；（5）在没有适当 PPE 的情况下强制进行当面护理；（6）因开放诊所而接触无症状个体的风险；（7）媒体禁言令；（8）薪酬和福利减少；（9）传播有关 COVID-19 大流行的错误信息；以及（10）工作量期望。第 11 个场景涉及 HCP 对这种具有挑战性和长期压力的情况的心理和生理反应。最后，我们讨论了在这个困难和不可预测的时期需要支持和同情心，并提供了一些建议，以培养 HCP 的适应力和自我效能感。
