TY - JOUR
T1 - Personnel well-being in the Helsinki University Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic
T2 - a prospective cohort study
AU - Haravuori, Henna
AU - Junttila, Kristiina
AU - Haapa, Toni
AU - Tuisku, Katinka
AU - Kujala, Anne
AU - Rosenström, Tom
AU - Suvisaari, Jaana
AU - Pukkala, Eero
AU - Laukkala, Tanja
AU - Jylhä, Pekka
N1 - Funding Information:
Open access funding provided by University of Helsinki.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/10/28
Y1 - 2020/10/28
N2 - In March 2020, strict measures took place in Finland to limit the COVID-19 pandemic. Majority of Finnish COVID-19 patients have been located in southern Finland and consequently cared for at the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) Helsinki University Hospital. During the pandemic, HUS personnel’s psychological symptoms are followed via an electronic survey, which also delivers information on psychosocial support services. In June 2020, the baseline survey was sent to 25,494 HUS employees, 4804 (19%) of whom answered; altogether, 62.4% of the respondents were nursing staff and 8.9% were medical doctors. While the follow-up continues for a year and a half, this report shares the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents and the first results of psychological symptoms from our baseline survey. Out of those who were directly involved in the pandemic patient care, 43.4% reported potentially traumatic COVID-19 pandemic-related events (PTEs) vs. 21.8% among the others (p < 0.001). While over a half of the personnel were asymptomatic, a group of respondents reported PTEs and concurrent depression, insomnia, and anxiety symptoms. This highlights the need to ensure appropriate psychosocial support services to all traumatized personnel; especially, nursing staff may require attention.
AB - In March 2020, strict measures took place in Finland to limit the COVID-19 pandemic. Majority of Finnish COVID-19 patients have been located in southern Finland and consequently cared for at the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) Helsinki University Hospital. During the pandemic, HUS personnel’s psychological symptoms are followed via an electronic survey, which also delivers information on psychosocial support services. In June 2020, the baseline survey was sent to 25,494 HUS employees, 4804 (19%) of whom answered; altogether, 62.4% of the respondents were nursing staff and 8.9% were medical doctors. While the follow-up continues for a year and a half, this report shares the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents and the first results of psychological symptoms from our baseline survey. Out of those who were directly involved in the pandemic patient care, 43.4% reported potentially traumatic COVID-19 pandemic-related events (PTEs) vs. 21.8% among the others (p < 0.001). While over a half of the personnel were asymptomatic, a group of respondents reported PTEs and concurrent depression, insomnia, and anxiety symptoms. This highlights the need to ensure appropriate psychosocial support services to all traumatized personnel; especially, nursing staff may require attention.
KW - COVID-19 pandemic
KW - Finland
KW - Healthcare personnel
KW - Post-traumatic stress disorder
KW - Psychological distress
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph17217905
DO - 10.3390/ijerph17217905
M3 - Article
C2 - 33126583
AN - SCOPUS:85094582925
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 17
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 21
M1 - 7905
ER -