To date, The Joint Commission’s Office of Quality and Patient Safety (OQPS) has received more than 2,000 COVID-19 related comments from healthcare workers, their loved ones and other community members during the pandemic, which are summarized in a new Sentinel Event Alert 62, Voices from the pandemic: Healthcare workers in the midst of crisis, announced The Joint Commission.
The continuing onslaught of COVID-19 is pushing healthcare organizations to their limits and workers beyond physical exhaustion, inflicting emotional damage on those who care for patients. Public health experts project that high rates of infection and mortality will continue through the winter, despite the recent rollout of vaccines.
The document is first in a series of alerts that address healthcare workers’ concerns and provide guidance on how to respond to their crisis, helping prepare them for the often-overwhelming circumstances surrounding caring for patients during a pandemic.
According to the comments made to OQPS, some of the most common concerns healthcare workers have about the pandemic are:
· Fear of the unknown
· Fear of getting sick
· Fear of bringing the virus home
· Staff shortages and other issues
To address these concerns, the alert encourages healthcare organizations to:
· Foster open and transparent communication to build trust, reduce fears, build morale and sustain an effective workforce.
· Remove barriers to healthcare workers seeking mental health services and develop systems that support institutional, as well as individual, resilience.
· Protect workers’ safety using the National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) Hierarchy of Controls framework.
· Develop a flexible workforce; evaluate the work being performed and determine if it can be performed remotely.
· Provide clinicians and others with opportunities to collaborate, lead and innovate.
