Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/1295137
N o one could have imagined the world we live in today when reports of coronavirus hot spots began to surface in March and elective sur- geries were put on hold. Your world shut down as healthcare resources were marshalled for the care of COVID-19 patients. Some of you helped out in intensive care units where patients suffered and died. Many more of you waited out the surgery shutdown before having to quickly adapt to new protocols and procedures when outpatient ORs reopened. As the nation decompresses from the coron- avirus's initial wave, mental health issues among overworked and overstressed healthcare profes- sionals continue to be of concern. The outbreaks are far from over, however. According to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, many new cases have appeared in states across the country over a four-week period ending Sept. 29: Eight states have the highest amount of increases with more than 25 new cases per day per 100,000 people; 23 states have experi- enced 10 to 24 new cases; and 19 states have had up to nine new cases. Only Vermont has averaged less than one new case per day. The nation could be on the verge of the coron- avirus's expected second wave, which adds to this time of unprecedented uncertainty and constant turmoil of significant unknowns. "We've all become a little more comfortable liv- ing with unanswered questions, but they're signifi- cant sources of stress, whether you realize it or not," says Laura Murray, MA, PhD, a senior scientist and clinical psychologist at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. "Healthcare professionals are typi- cally very good at handling stress, but this is a dif- ferent kind of stress than what they're used to deal- ing with. Part of it is the uncontrollable nature of COVID-19, and not knowing what's coming next." Surgical professionals work with a constant threat of exposure to the coronavirus, and home- lives have been turned upside down. Spouses might be out of work, finances could be tight and virtual schooling has left some parents struggling with childcare challenges. Nothing is how it used to be just six months ago. It's stressful and overwhelm- ing, and yet you continue to show up and scrub in because that's what you do. Patient care is your passion, and it drives you to make personal sacri- fices that, in some cases, jeopardize your mental well-being. Helping the helpers Perioperative nurses at Northwell Health's 23 hospi- tals and nearly 800 outpatient facilities throughout New York State faced life-defining experiences when COVID-19 cases went from zero to thousands in days. Now that the first wave is over, nurses who stepped up during the pandemic to help treat coron- avirus patients will reflect on what they went through, which could cause anxiety if they have traumatic memories. This response could be especially prominent among OR nurses, according to Maureen White, RN, executive vice president and chief nursing offi- cer at Northwell Health. "Our ambulatory and inpatient perioperative nurses showed tremendous courage, fortitude and resilience in stepping up in a very short period of time," says Ms. White. "Like other nurses, they didn't know it was going to get as bad as it got so quickly." Many of Northwell Health's perioperative nurses were deployed to med-surg and ICU bedsides. Some of the nurses communicated with family members of COVID-19 patients, and others were assigned to swabbing stations set up to test patients and employees entering emergency rooms. While the nurses handled the assignments will- ingly, many went into the response with some trepi- dation. They came from the perioperative arena in which large surges of patients — and deaths — are rare. If any of the nurses were traumatized during their time on the front lines of COVID-19 response efforts, this is when the signs could begin to show, says Ms. White. In response, Northwell Health has ramped up some facets of its employee assistance program and created "tranquility areas" in tents outside their facilities in which nurses can relax before or after O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y . N E T • 2 1 CONTROL THE CHAOS Alyson McLean, CRNA, says focused breathing unhooks your body from stress reactions.