Post a description of the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected for analysis, and explain how the healthcare issue/stressor may impact your work setting. Then, describe how your health system work setting has responded to the healthcare issue/stressor, including a description of what changes may have been implemented. Be specific and provide examples.

Review of Current Healthcare Issues

Healthcare professionals working in critical care areas suffer from high psychological, emotional, and physical stress levels. Critical units of care, such as intensive care units, have higher work demands, which negatively impact the well-being of nurses and other healthcare professionals. A major healthcare issue that has increased the stress levels of healthcare professionals is the Covid-19 pandemic. Healthcare professionals were the frontline soldiers in the pandemic. They were, however, overburdened and under-equipped during the first wave, which resulted in higher stress levels (Couarraze et al., 2021). The pandemic also increased burnout, increasing the risk of physical and mental issues (Couarraze et al., 2021).

I am currently working in the intensive care unit of a busy healthcare facility. The pandemic has increased stress levels for all individuals on this floor. Covid-19 has increased the number of admissions into the ICU, which has increased the workload for nurses. Covid-19 has resulted in an unsafe work environment, staff shortages, and adverse patient outcomes. Since the pandemic started, we have had four different unit managers and the death of fifteen nurses. As a result, this has reduced employees’ morale as most of them are depressed.

Evidence-based practice involves integrating current literature into clinical practice to improve healthcare outcomes (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2018). My healthcare organization responded to the pandemic by developing new infection control protocols. Current guidelines support the effectiveness of hand hygiene and personal protective equipment to control the spread of the virus (Islam et al., 2020). The implemented infection protocols in my organization included regular hand sanitization, the creation of COVID-19 isolation rooms, and an adequate supply of PPEs. Similarly, this made the staff members feel safer and delivered care.

References

Couarraze, S., Delamarre, L., Marhar, F., Quach, B., Jiao, J., Avilés Dorlhiac, R., Saadaoui, F., Liu, A. S., Dubuis, B., Antunes, S., Andant, N., Pereira, B., Ugbolue, U. C., Baker, J. S., Clinchamps, M., & Dutheil, F. (2021). The major worldwide stress of healthcare professionals during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic – the international COVISTRESS survey. PLOS ONE, 16(10), e0257840. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257840

Islam, M. S., Rahman, K. M., Sun, Y., Qureshi, M. O., Abdi, I., Chughtai, A. A., & Seale, H. (2020). Current knowledge of COVID-19 and infection prevention and control strategies in healthcare settings: A global analysis. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 41(10), 1196-1206. https://doi.org/10.1017/ice.2020.237