Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain.
Research Group of Humanities and Qualitative Research in Health Science of Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Hum&QRinHS), Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain.
Phys Ther. 2021 Apr 4;101(4). doi: 10.1093/ptj/pzab025.
Knowledge of the experiences of health care professionals who have actively worked on the first line of the COVID-19 pandemic could help to identify specific professional duties focused on health assistance objectives. No qualitative study has yet been published, to our knowledge, describing the experience of physical therapists during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to describe and explore the experiences and perspectives of physical therapists working in public hospitals in Madrid, Spain, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A qualitative exploratory study was conducted based on an interpretive framework. Thirty physical therapists working at 11 national public hospitals during the COVID-19 outbreak were recruited by purposeful sampling and snowball techniques. In-depth interviews and researchers' field notes were used to collect data. Interviews were transcribed verbatim. Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify emerging themes.
After identifying 3912 codes and 13 categories, 3 themes emerged. The first theme was "call of duty"; as COVID-19 infection dramatically spread, the hospitals were contaminated and overwhelmed, and all floors were converted into COVID-19 wards. The second theme was "working in war time." Every day, therapists were given "the war report," receiving their orders, meeting protective personal equipment requirements, and confronting fear. The third theme was "when I arrive at home." Working during the pandemic had an impact on the therapists' families and the information shared with them.
Physical therapists described the COVID-19 outbreak as an apocalyptic and unexpected war. Comprehensive support is needed for all frontline health care professionals. The COVID-19 outbreak revealed that health care systems were not prepared for a pandemic.
To our knowledge, this is the first qualitative study to be published describing the experience of physical therapists during the COVID-19 pandemic.
了解积极参与 COVID-19 大流行一线工作的医疗保健专业人员的经验，可以帮助确定专注于卫生援助目标的具体专业职责。据我们所知，目前还没有发表任何定性研究来描述 COVID-19 大流行期间物理治疗师的经验。本研究的目的是描述和探讨西班牙马德里公立 11 家医院工作的物理治疗师在 COVID-19 大流行期间的经验和观点。
本研究采用解释性框架进行定性探索性研究。通过目的抽样和滚雪球技术，招募了 11 家公立医院在 COVID-19 爆发期间工作的 30 名物理治疗师。使用深入访谈和研究人员的现场记录收集数据。访谈进行逐字转录。采用归纳主题分析确定出现的主题。
在确定了 3912 个代码和 13 个类别后，出现了 3 个主题。第一个主题是“职责召唤”；随着 COVID-19 感染的迅速传播，医院被污染和不堪重负，所有楼层都被改造成 COVID-19 病房。第二个主题是“战时工作”。每天，治疗师都会收到“战报”，接受命令，满足个人防护装备要求，并面对恐惧。第三个主题是“当我回到家时”。大流行期间的工作对治疗师的家人和与他们分享的信息产生了影响。
物理治疗师将 COVID-19 疫情描述为一场灾难性和意外的战争。所有一线医护人员都需要得到全面支持。COVID-19 疫情暴露了医疗体系对大流行准备不足的问题。
据我们所知，这是第一份描述 COVID-19 大流行期间物理治疗师经验的定性研究。
