Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia.
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2023 Mar 16;23(1):262. doi: 10.1186/s12913-023-09257-2.
While COVID-19 affects every walk of human life, it especially implicates healthcare workers at the forefront of the pandemic due to their vulnerable involvement in providing first-line treatment. This study presents the lived experiences of frontline healthcare workers serving in Indonesia's COVID-19-designated hospital, one of the severely afflicted healthcare settings wherein resource challenges, public health crisis, and political constraints intersect as policy conundrums.
Using a qualitative exploratory-descriptive approach, this study drew on thirteen in-depth, semi-structured interviews with frontline healthcare workers who have experiences providing first-line COVID-19 patient care in the COVID-19 hospital. The data analysis commenced with the verbatim transcription of the interview data, which was then subjected to a systematic thematic analysis employing hermeneutic phenomenological principles.
The exploration of the participants' accounts reveals eight interconnected themes: facing resource scarcity and resignation; experiencing service-induced burnout due to occupational workload; encountering fears of being infected and infecting others; engaging in positivity through social connectedness; having dilemmas over healthcare rationing; developing negative emotions during patient interactions; coping through spirituality and religiosity; and embodying a life of service.
Managing healthcare in resource-limited, crisis settings presents multifaceted challenges that exceed mere structural modifications, requiring prioritized public health investment to ensure optimal patient care. Therefore, healthcare policy development and implementation should equally emphasize the well-being of frontline healthcare workers to foster sustainable healthcare delivery and achieve improved patient outcomes.
新冠疫情影响着人类生活的方方面面,由于医护人员在提供一线治疗方面的脆弱性参与,他们尤其成为疫情的前线工作者。本研究呈现了印度尼西亚一家新冠定点医院的一线医护工作者的生活经历,该医院是受疫情严重影响的医疗机构之一,资源挑战、公共卫生危机和政治限制在这里交织在一起,形成了政策难题。
本研究采用定性探索性描述方法,对 13 名在新冠定点医院有一线新冠患者护理经验的医护工作者进行了深入的半结构化访谈。数据分析从访谈数据的逐字转录开始,然后采用解释现象学原则的系统主题分析。
对参与者叙述的探索揭示了八个相互关联的主题:面对资源短缺和辞职;由于职业工作量而经历服务引起的倦怠;对感染和感染他人的恐惧;通过社会联系保持积极性;在医疗资源分配方面存在困境;在与患者互动时产生负面情绪;通过精神和宗教信仰来应对;以及体现服务生活。
在资源有限、危机环境下管理医疗保健带来了多方面的挑战,这些挑战不仅仅是结构上的改变,需要优先进行公共卫生投资,以确保最佳的患者护理。因此,医疗保健政策的制定和实施同样应该强调一线医护工作者的福祉,以促进可持续的医疗保健服务提供,并实现改善的患者结果。