Health Care Professionals' Spirituality and COVID-19: Meaning, Compassion, Relationship

Spiritual issues, beliefs, needs, and resources in palliative healthcare providers: An Italian qualitative study

The significance of spirituality in navigating the meaning of illness and death has been well-established. However, healthcare professionals working with palliation also grapple with their own spiritual dimensions when confronted with these circumstances. This study aimed to explore spirituality from a subjective standpoint among a sample of palliative care professionals, investigating its role and associated needs. For the first time, the FICA Spiritual History Tool was applied in a focus group setting. The meetings were transcribed, and thematic analysis was performed. The findings underscore how spirituality is perceived as more relational than transcendent, potentially fostering connections between the self, patients, and colleagues, thereby enhancing resilience. Simultaneously, spirituality needs to be considered as a potential source of suffering that could impact both the quality of life and work of healthcare workers involved. This issue should be addressed through dedicated moments of shared reprocessing, with beneficial implications for public health.

Personal Protective Equipment-Related Problems Experienced by Healthcare Workers, Solutions, and Recommendations: A Qualitative Study

OBJECTIVE

To understand the problems experienced by healthcare workers (HCWs) who used personal protective equipment (PPE) on their face during the COVID-19 pandemic, their interventions to prevent these problems, and their recommendations for improving the quality of PPE.

METHODS

This descriptive and qualitative study included HCWs (N = 29) from health institutions at different levels in Turkey. Researchers collected data using a semistructured data collection form (13 items) and in-depth individual interviews. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and qualitative inductive content analysis.

RESULTS

Of the 29 participants, 15 (51.7%) were women, and 18 (62.1%) were nurses. Participants' answers regarding problems related to PPE use were grouped into four main categories, answers regarding the prevention of these problems were grouped into three main categories, and answers regarding improving the quality of PPE were grouped into three main categories. Skin concerns were the most commonly reported problems related to PPE, and interventions to prevent these problems primarily related to skin protection and care. Recommendations to improve the quality of PPE focused on using materials for masks and face shields that reduce pressure and friction; participants also suggested that face shields be produced in sterile and disposable packages.

CONCLUSIONS

This research indicates that HCWs need support and they are able to create individual solutions for the problems with PPE that they experience. Skin-friendly PPE that ensures the safety and comfort of HCWs should be produced, and hospitals should develop policies for institutional use to prevent PPE injury.

Self reported benefits of participating in group prayer in a hospital outpatient setting: A cross-sectional observational study

BACKGROUND

Prayer had long been used as a tool to bring hope among patients suffering with intractable diseases. Most clinical researches conducted so far on prayer were done upon indoor patients. Effects of prayer involving patients and health care providers in a hospital outpatient setting have never been explored.

OBJECTIVES

This cross sectional study aimed to observe the self-perceived changes post prayer among patients and hospital staff involved in the health care delivery and who actually have participated in the prayer sessions.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

Survey was conducted with the help of a structured questionnaire on routine OP days at Ayurveda -Arthritis Treatment and Advanced Research Center, Lucknow. Patients visiting the center for OP based consultation and hospital staff who has participated in any prayer session were eligible to participate in the survey.

RESULTS

49 hospital staff and 85 patients have participated in the survey. Among most important self-reported attributes following the prayer sessions in patients were Positive Attitude (84.70%), Optimism about cure (92.90%), Feeling of well-being (95.30%), Optimism about future (95.30%) and Changes in energy level (89.40%). Among hospital staff the important attributes were related to change in energy level (93.90%), increased empathy (93.90%), feeling of universal good (96.00%), less fatigue post prayer (69.40%), sustained effects (81.60%) and healthier feeling (81.60%).

CONCLUSION

This observational study suggests that a simple prayer session in outpatient department may be helpful in inculcating hope and building self-esteem among patients and can bring a better self-image, efficiency and connectedness in the hospital staff. Eventually, this may help in improving the outcomes and quality of care being provided at outpatient setting at any hospital.

'I never leave my house without praying': a qualitative exploration of the psychospiritual experiences of ethnically diverse healthcare staff during the COVID-19 pandemic

OBJECTIVES

The study aimed to understand the psychospiritual experiences and support needs of ethnically diverse healthcare staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.

DESIGN

A qualitative study using focus groups conducted remotely on Microsoft Teams.

SETTING

The study took place across 10 National Health Service Trusts in England: 5 were Acute Hospital Trusts and 5 were Community and Mental Health Trusts.

PARTICIPANTS

Fifty-five participants were recruited to the study across 16 focus group meetings. Participants were all National Health Service staff from ethnically diverse backgrounds.

RESULTS

Psychospiritual concerns were central to participants' understanding of themselves and their work in the National Health Service. Participants felt there was limited recognition of spirituality within the health service. They described close links between their spirituality and their ethnicities and felt that the psychospiritual support offered within the healthcare setting was not reflective of diverse ethnic and spiritual needs. Improved psychospiritual care was viewed as an opportunity to connect more deeply with other colleagues, rather than using the more individualistic interventions on offer. Participants requested greater compassion and care from leadership teams. Participants described both positive and negative changes in their spirituality as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

CONCLUSIONS

Culturally sensitive psychospiritual support is a key aspect of healthcare staff's well-being, despite identified gaps in this area. Aside from affecting physical, psychological, social and financial aspects of healthcare staff's lives, the pandemic has also had a significant impact on the ways that people experience spirituality.

Creating healthy workplaces in healthcare: Are we delaying progress by focusing on what we can do rather than what we should do?

All the available evidence points to the fact that healthcare is under considerable stress, and while change is urgently needed there is no quick fix; systemic and sustained changes in organizational cultures within healthcare are required. Moreover, the fragility of healthcare systems globally has been starkly exposed by the Coronavirus 2019 pandemic. We have gathered enough evidence to know what is driving poor wellbeing, and how these processes impact on quality of care and patient safety. Indeed, we have a good idea of what we need to do to improve the situation. Therefore, this begs a simpler question; If we know how to create healthy workplaces, why is it so difficult to achieve this in healthcare? In the following perspective paper, we will argue that we can do better if we address the following three issues: (1) we are ignoring the real problems, (2) limited successes that we are achieving are moving us further from tackling the real problems, (3) culture change is accepted as crucial, but we are not accepting what the evidence is telling us about healthcare culture. Tackling burnout is useful and necessary, but we must increase dignity among healthcare employees. Moreover, we need to train line managers to recognize and facilitate the need of employees to feel competent and be appreciated by others, while helping them set wellbeing boundaries.