ANSWER
I appreciate you sharing your stories. I can identify with the difficulties you described, particularly the psychological toll and the transition to personal protective equipment and infection control protocols. It’s critical to acknowledge that although the pandemic made staffing shortages worse, it also highlighted how resilient and adaptive healthcare professionals are. Public health nurses, as you indicated, were essential in educating and immunizing populations, and their efforts in contact tracing contributed to the containment of the outbreak. I concur that the financial pressure, false information, and emotional toll were major obstacles. Maybe concentrating on resources for healthcare professionals’ mental health could likewise lessen these stresses in the future.
QUESTION
PLEASE RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING POST OF A CLASSMATE IN 100 WORDS, Remember that your posts must be substantive and contribute to the dialogue that is taking place and Response posts must offer at least TWO new piece of information or insight.
Classmate Post:
Option 1:
My work life and environment has been affected by Covid 19 in many ways. Such as an increase workload, that have become more demanding, emotional distress over my health, adjusting to new policies and appropriate PPE attire, implementing new infection control measures, and patient care dynamics. Although shortages existed before the pandemic, they became worse during the crisis. Many facilities struggled to maintain adequate staffing because employees were exposed to COVID-19 and were required to quarantine – in some cases, for up to two weeks (Pandemic Oversight, 2023).
My personal life has been affected by Covid 19 by impacting my social life and the way I interact with people, my education, and adapting to a new norm. Worry and concern were natural partners of all that change — getting used to new routines, loneliness and financial pressure, among other issues. Information overload, rumor and misinformation didn’t help (Mayo, 2024).
Public health nurses have served valiantly on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic for the past two years, saving lives through contact tracing, educating people about self-isolation and quarantining, vaccinating communities, and interpreting for their communities vacillating guidance from the Centers for Disease (Hassmiller, 2022).
References
Hassmiller, S. B. (2022, June). Revitalizing public health nursing for the future. American journal of public health. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9184896/#:~:text=Public%20health%20nurses%20have%20served,from%20the%20Centers%20for%20DiseaseLinks to an external site.
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2024, April 4). Covid-19: How to manage your mental health during the pandemic. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/mental-health-covid-19/art-20482731#:~:text=At%20the%20start%20of%20the,and%20misinformation%20didn’t%20helpLinks to an external site..
Pandemic Oversight. (2023, November 6). Key insights: Health care staffing shortages. https://www.pandemicoversight.gov/oversight/our-publications-reports/health-care-staffing-shortages#:~:text=The%20pandemic%20made%20it%20more,for%20up%20to%20two%20weeks.