The effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of intensivists and critical care nurses affected by PTSD

Abstract

The purpose of the research project was to investigate the effects of PTSD on intensivists and critical care nurses during the Coronavirus pandemic. The project aims to explore any themes that emerged from the participants' experiences and provide a platform for their perspectives to be expressed during this global crisis. Additionally, the objectives of the research project were to assess the biopsychosocial impact of the coronavirus. The research data collected from this project would also contribute to the development of new policies post-COVID-19 and shed light on the specific experiences of healthcare workers in a South African government hospital located in KwaZulu Natal (KZN). The individual experiences of each subject served as the foundation for identifying the resulting themes, utilizing an interpretive hermeneutic phenomenology as the research design. The research methodology employed semi-structured questionnaires and the PCL-5 checklist to gather qualitative and quantitative data, respectively, adopting a mixed methods approach. The collected data was then analysed using content analysis to identify the prevalent themes. The main findings of this study came across from the seven participants who were a combination of critical care doctor and nurses. According to the results of the PCL-5 test, three individuals out of seven had a higher possibility of being diagnosed with PTSD. However, the quantitative information from the PCL-5 checklist was combined with the qualitative information from the semi-structured questionnaire which further identified those individuals who would strongly benefit from therapy, after the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a mixed methods approach, themes emerged that helped to identify the different aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic on intensivists and critical care nurses. These themes ranged from different aspects using the biopsychosocial theoretical approach. Even though these findings were specifically derived from the hospital in KZN, the significance of this study is that policies and treatment plans should be modified post-COVID-19 pandemic, to work through the traumatic experiences that these individuals have experienced in all hospitals. These experiences and the participant's views that were expressed could help not only the specific participants in the future but can also enhance policy implementation/change for other healthcare workers.