This paper’s purpose is to summarize the article Strategies to Improve Nurses’ Stress Response during the COVID-19 Pandemic and discuss its impact on future nursing practice. The essay contains a summary of the article emphasizing information about nurses and their mental health in healthcare. The information obtained is used to model possible hardships and find solutions that nurses must find in their work.
The article is dedicated to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the overall health of nurses. The authors studied the state of nurses across the country and found that more than 60,000 nurses planned to leave their jobs in 2020 (Meehan et al., 2022). “The sustained exposure to acute stress, combined with caregiver burden, may lead to a systemic stress response” that results in acute stress disorder (ASD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Meehan et al., 2022, p. 29). Nurses leaving the profession may be just the beginning as “long-term effects of the stress and trauma will affect the profession for years to come” (Meehan et al., 2022, p. 29). Because of the COVID pandemic, nurses are considering or have already left nursing as their profession. The increased number of nurses with this ongoing, complex, psychological distress is now included in the numbers of a vulnerable population.
During the pandemic, all nurses have faced unprecedented levels of workload and human suffering and death. COVID itself has had an undefinable and uncountable effect on healthcare workers. In addition, social and intra-work ties were disrupted; however, “all nurses want to be heard, appreciated, and connected to their nursing leaders, regardless of their generation or experience level” (Meehan et al., 2022, p. 32). Understanding the reasons behind fatigue and stress helps nurses with self-care, supports the nurses, finds ways to prevent this, improves work environments, and maintains staffing numbers in nursing.
The article’s content shows the difficulties and dangers of the work of a nurse, complicated by a situation of acute stress. Medical workers are incredibly vulnerable to professional burnout, even under normal conditions. As a nurse, I will have to consider this in the future. I will have to monitor my stress levels, learn how to regulate them, and find ways to manage stress. Finding support groups, good people, and contacts with the professional community can be critical.
Stress is an integral part of being a nurse and cannot be avoided. Every nurse will sooner or later face traumatic episodes at work. Nevertheless, it is worth remembering that prolonged and acute stress, not worked out immediately, can develop into a severe post-traumatic disorder. As a future nurse, I need to know how and when to take care of myself because otherwise, I won’t be able to continue my work and help others. The impact of the given article on my future practice and the practice of any nurse is to bring awareness to medical professionals, healthcare facilities, and the authorities. The article is somewhat of a call to action that necessitates finding solutions to nurse burnout and other mental and physical health issues caused by work overload and unacceptable workplace conditions.
The profession of a medical worker has always been associated with mental pressure, stress, overwork, high health risks, etc. The article covers information on how the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the situation; that is why what used to help nurses deal with stress and anxiety does not always work the same now. It is necessary to study the mental health of nurses further and develop ways to level the negative consequences. Healthcare workers are valued for their experience, and if they leave medicine due to burnout and PTSD, this will negatively affect their level of healthcare. In my opinion, every nurse should look after their physical and mental health first and foremost.
Reference
Meehan, C., Schlamb, C., & Nair, J. (2022). Strategies to improve nurses’ stress response during the COVID-19 pandemic.Nursing, 52(1), 29-32.