Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Caring our caregivers

“The stress amongst medical staff is experienced even during sleep. Some staff talked about having recurrent dreams of dead patients coming back to life, especially young patients who got worse quickly and the medics were unable to save them,” -- Dr Hamad al Sinawi, Senior Psychiatrist
No Image
minus
plus

Extend support to medics and their families who are under unprecedented stress and workload amid the pandemic


A nurse says his father wants to make sure he comes home not before a day off. He would like to see the son in a video call because he can check if the son is In a hospital uniform or not.


This is just one instance to illustrate the kind of fear and stress stalking the families of medics. The number of Covid 19 cases are falling but the stress on the health staff and their families are nowhere near normal underscoring the importance of psychological support.


How do they cope with this difficult situation? They respond differently from trying to be practical and some handle it by joking about it, said Dr Hamad al Sinawi, Senior Psychiatrist.


“Actually, they follow strict policies at the hospital. The staff wears full protective gear while on duty,” pointed out Dr. Hamed. When asked what advice he would give to the health staff and the families, Dr. Hamed said, “Staff needs to learn some basic psychological well-being skills like how to relax after work. Be aware that some friends and relatives will be discussing Covid and the number of cases, this can be stressful to the staff as it makes them think about Covid all the time."


"Getting support from colleagues is also useful since they face the same situations and would be able to share coping skills or even acknowledging and validating the person's feelings,” he pointed out adding it is important to select whom to vent out to.


“The stress amongst medical staff is experienced even during sleep. Some staff talked about having recurrent dreams of dead patients coming back to life, especially young patients who got worse quickly and the medics were unable to save them,” he said.


All this indicates a need to relax when away from a stressful environment. “During the peak time when the number of patients was high, staff felt overworked and some have had very sick patients to look after and it's hard to give up on sick patients. Patients when they die have only staff at their bedside since family members are not allowed to visit. In some countries, when the demand for ICU beds was high, sometimes there were three or four patients needing an ICU but there was only one ICU bed. This forces doctors to "choose" which of the four patients is likely to benefit from the ICU bed.”


According to the senior psychiatrist, this situation often creates ethical dilemmas as there may be no clear guidelines on how to choose from the patients. Also, some doctors feel it is not fair they are making such life and death decisions. But eventually, most of the health staff have been coping with the situation by eventually learning to adapt to ongoing stress, which is defined as psychological resilience.


“Psychological resilience is the ability to cope with a crisis or stressful situations and return to normal times quickly. Resilient people use mental processes and behaviours to de-stress and protect themselves from the potential negative effects of stress,” explained Dr Hamed. An example of resilience is being able to cope with the death of a loved one, or adapting to a new job after losing the one you loved. Or even going back to studying after failing an exam.


“The good news is that resilience can be learned by developing thoughts, behaviors, and actions that allow you to recover from the stressful events in life,” advised Dr Hamed.


But something intriguing comes out of the experience. “When people share similar stress the group transforms into a team or a tribe. They get attached to each other and form a new identity,” noted Dr. Hamed. What would be some tips for the staff to relax when they are not working?


“I highly recommend adequate sleep and healthy eating. Physical exercise is essential to boost mental health. Getting indulged in something you enjoy doing, watching a movie, reading (non-medical books), listening to music, or gardening. Painting is good but maybe not for everyone. There is scientific evidence that gardening is good for your mental health.”


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon