All hospital employees are provided with support regarding COVID-19.

Doctors and nurses are risking their mental health for all of us, as well as hospital workers. Healthcare workers must risk themselves and some separation from their families for weeks to avoid transmitting the virus or even bring the virus home after their shift. The mental well-being of health care workers is in serious jeopardy. To protect their mental health during the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare workers should focus on self-care and seek professional help for serious mental health conditions such as depression. Medical professionals are likely to experience fear, anxiety, and a sense of powerlessness. Healthcare organizations can provide counseling and have support groups available.

“They screen us at the door upon arrival by checking out the temperature at the door. We monitor out symptoms both at work and at home. If anything changes, then we have to report it to employee health and stay home if necessary,” Patient Care Tech Alondra Alviter and her colleagues said.

Some healthcare workers aren’t mentally fit to be dealing with COVID-19 stress which can affect their job performance.

“COVID-19 is affecting doctors and nurses in different ways. There are doctors and nurses that suffer from anxiety and cannot deal with this situation and cannot function as medical professionals. Some of these medical professionals have quit or have taken medical leaves of absence (this leave protects their job and prevents them from being fired). COVID has made everyone be extra careful about hand hygiene, disinfecting working areas, and protecting ourselves from being exposed. It has also added physical and mental stress to everyone’s day because we are being asked to work more days and worry about bringing it home to our families,” Nurse Rose Rodriguez said.

Due to COVID-19 hospitals have been fully staffed.

“It’s been full staff. If we need extra hands, we have registry, and float staff from Loyola. In a hospital its usually 3 12hr shifts per week but since COVID, there’s been more opportunity to pick up more shifts,” Patient Care Tech

Alondra Alviter and her colleagues said.

Meetings occur when the department has new information.

“There is a meeting every other day amongst hospital administrators, department directors, department managers, department educators and infectious disease specialists to keep everyone updated on new COVID information and any changes to hospital practices. The department managers and educators then provide it to all the employees on their specific unit, along with any new things that must be started or changed,” Nurse Rosa Rodriguez said.

It seems that healthcare workers are getting the support they need at their jobs for putting their health and life on the line.