{"id":120932,"date":"2021-09-05T10:34:24","date_gmt":"2021-09-05T10:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=120932"},"modified":"2021-09-05T10:34:24","modified_gmt":"2021-09-05T10:34:24","slug":"each-covid-19-surge-poses-a-risk-for-healthcare-workers-ptsd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/each-covid-19-surge-poses-a-risk-for-healthcare-workers-ptsd\/","title":{"rendered":"Each COVID-19 surge poses a risk for healthcare workers: PTSD"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Reuters) – Nurse Chris Prott\u2019s knees jump, his heart races, his mouth goes dry and his mind floods with dark memories when he talks about working in the Milwaukee VA Medical Center\u2019s intensive care unit (ICU) during pandemic surges.<\/p>

FILE PHOTO: Nurse Chris Prott examines a patient in the urgent care department at the Iron Mountain VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain, Michigan, U.S., August 25, 2021. John Jamison\/Handout via REUTERS <\/figcaption>

Prott shares a struggle common to many of the military veterans for whom he has cared for years: symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).<\/p>\n

Prott was among a half dozen ICU staffers who told Reuters of symptoms such as waking from nightmares bathed in sweat; flashbacks to dying patients during the pandemic\u2019s fear-filled early days; flaring anger; and panic at the sound of medical alarms. Those whose symptoms last longer than one month and are severe enough to interfere with daily life can be diagnosed with PTSD.<\/p>\n

The surging Delta variant is heaping on fresh trauma as the United States and other nations begin to study PTSD in health workers. Data already showed that U.S. health workers were in crisis before COVID-19.<\/p>\n

While PTSD is associated with combat, it can arise among civilians after natural disasters, abuse or other trauma. Health workers can be reluctant to equate their experience with that of returning soldiers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like a schmuck calling it PTSD,\u201d Prott said. \u201cIt took me a long time to be able to talk to somebody because I see guys with real PTSD. What I\u2019ve got going on, it\u2019s nothing in comparison, so you feel guilty for thinking that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Psychiatrist Dr. Bessel van der Kolk knows better.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the surface, a nurse at your local hospital will not look like a guy coming back from Afghanistan,\u201d said the author of \u201cThe Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.\u201d \u201cBut underneath it all, we have these core neurobiology-determined functions that are the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pre-pandemic studies showed that rates of PTSD in front-line health workers varied from 10% to 50%. The suicide rate among doctors was more than twice that of the general public.<\/p>\n

The American Medical Association (AMA) has tapped a military psychologist and the Department of Veterans Affairs\u2019 (VA) National Center for PTSD to help it measure the pandemic\u2019s impact.<\/p>\n

Texas Tech University Health Science Center psychiatry resident Dr. Huseyin Bayazit and researchers in his native Turkey surveyed 1,833 Turkish health workers last autumn. The results, presented in May at an American Psychiatric Association meeting, showed a PTSD rate of 49.5% among nonphysicians and 36% for doctors. Rates of suicidal thoughts increased as workers spent more time on COVID-19 units.<\/p>\n

Unions want to mitigate trauma by setting national rules for the number of patients under each nurse\u2019s care. Workers say they should not have to pay for therapy, medication, and other interventions.<\/p>\n

The AMA and other groups want more confidentiality for doctors who seek mental health services. Most ICU staff who discussed PTSD with Reuters requested anonymity for fear of repercussions at work.<\/p>\n

New York\u2019s Mount Sinai Health System and Chicago\u2019s Rush University System for Health provide free, confidential mental health services.<\/p>\n

Mount Sinai\u2019s new Center for Stress, Resilience, and Personal Growth offers a military-inspired \u201cBattle Buddies\u201d peer-support program for nurses. A\u202f chaplain \u202ffrom Rush\u2019s \u201cRoad Home\u201d program for veterans runs a \u201cpost-traumatic growth\u201d bereavement support group for ICU nurses.<\/p>\n

The VA system provides no-cost, short-term mental health counseling through its employee assistance program. Many local VA facilities supplement those with spiritual counseling and crisis incident response teams, a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u2018YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT\u2019<\/p>\n

About 5,000 U.S. physicians quit every two years due to burnout, said Dr. Christine Sinsky, an AMA vice president. The annual cost is about $4.6 billion – including lost revenue from vacancies and recruitment expenses, she said.<\/p>\n

Hospital survey results in March led the Department of Health and Human Services to warn \u201cstaffing shortages have affected patient care, and that exhaustion and trauma have taken a toll on staff\u2019s mental health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trauma surgeon Dr. Kari Jerge volunteered to work in a Phoenix COVID-19 ward during last winter\u2019s surge. She turned down substantially more pay to return to the ICU after the Delta variant surge.<\/p>\n

Jerge encourages others to prioritize \u201cself-preservation,\u201d but worries about the loss of expertise. \u201cThere is infinite value in a nurse who\u2019s been working in the ICU for 20 years and just has a gut feeling when something\u2019s going wrong with a patient,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Nurse Pascaline Muhindura, 40, who cares for COVID-19 patients in Kansas City, Missouri, has advocated for health worker safety since losing a co-worker to the disease early in the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt keeps getting worse and worse. We are heading back to that place – that woke up those emotions again,\u201d said Muhindura, who added that many employers do not offer adequate insurance coverage for therapy.<\/p>\n

An ICU fosters the kind of camaraderie forged in battle. A group of Southern California COVID-19 nurses got matching tattoos. Health workers commiserate over crying their way home after tough shifts, support each other on social media, and push colleagues to seek help.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nothing wrong with feeling this way,\u201d said VA nurse Prott. \u201cYou have to deal with it though.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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