Mafolo Mamodiege C, Mutava Eunice, Sunnasy Alethea, du Plessis-Faurie Alida S
Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Aurum Institute, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Health SA. 2025 Jul 4;30:2929. doi: 10.4102/hsag.v30i0.2929. eCollection 2025.
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 virus (SARS-CoV-2) was highly infectious and had a high mortality rate. Globally, countries prioritised early disease detection through biological sample collection, analysis, and treatment. Understanding the physical and mental health outcomes that medical technologists experienced as a result of the increased risk of exposure is critical for making recommendations for the successful implementation of new workplace safety standards.
This study attempts to provide a better understanding of medical technologists' experiences and occupational exposure during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic.
The study was carried out at a Gauteng public laboratory that is a component of South Africa's national health laboratory services.
The study design was qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual. Ten medical technologists were chosen using a purposive sampling technique. The data were gathered via in-depth, semi-structured interviews, which were audio recorded, professionally transcribed and coded. Tesch's thematic coding method was used to perform a descriptive analysis.
Three key themes were identified: health and safety, negative experiences, and positive self-satisfaction. Medical technologists were concerned about their safety and health while handling COVID-19 specimens because of the challenging work environment caused by the pandemic. This resulted in negative experiences, including stress and anxiety. Despite this, several individuals felt their contributions throughout the pandemic were notable.
The COVID-19 pandemic required additional resources, expertise, and training for medical technologists to safely collect and analyse biological samples.
The study's findings present an opportunity to develop work-related risk management and support plans for future pandemics.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2型（SARS-CoV-2）具有高度传染性且死亡率高。在全球范围内，各国都将通过生物样本采集、分析和治疗来尽早发现疾病作为优先事项。了解医学技术人员因接触风险增加而产生的身心健康结果，对于成功实施新的工作场所安全标准提出建议至关重要。
本研究旨在更好地了解医学技术人员在2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）疫情期间的经历和职业暴露情况。
该研究在豪登省的一个公共实验室进行，该实验室是南非国家卫生实验室服务的组成部分。
研究设计为定性、探索性、描述性和情境性研究。采用目的抽样技术选取了10名医学技术人员。通过深入的半结构化访谈收集数据，访谈进行了录音、专业转录和编码。采用泰施的主题编码方法进行描述性分析。
确定了三个关键主题：健康与安全、负面经历和积极的自我满足感。由于疫情造成的具有挑战性的工作环境，医学技术人员在处理COVID-19样本时担心自己的安全和健康。这导致了负面经历，包括压力和焦虑。尽管如此，一些人认为他们在整个疫情期间的贡献是显著的。
COVID-19疫情需要为医学技术人员提供额外的资源、专业知识和培训，以便安全地采集和分析生物样本。
该研究结果为制定未来大流行的工作相关风险管理和支持计划提供了机会。
