DR PRIYA MARTIN Senior Research Fellow, The University of Queensland Rural Clinical School, Toowoomba Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellow
“Reports across the globe are identifying stress, anxiety, insomnia, and depression, with healthcare workers feeling overwhelmed, overworked, and burnt out.”
Support for healthcare workers: why it is more important now than ever
One cannot pour from an empty cup. If healthcare
stretched, and healthcare issues were growing in
workers are not supported to be the best versions
complexity. Even prior to the pandemic, healthcare
of themselves at work, the care they provide
workers were being asked to ‘do more with less’.
to clients is bound to be affected. Evidence is
Now the question remains on ‘what can be done?’
mounting on the adverse impacts the COVID-19
given the additional stress the pandemic has added
pandemic has had on the mental health and
to the already stretched healthcare system. While
wellbeing of healthcare workers. Reports across
interventions are needed that target multiple levels
the globe are identifying stress, anxiety, insomnia,
of the healthcare system: systems/organisational
and depression, with healthcare workers feeling
level, team level and healthcare worker level, two
overwhelmed, overworked, and burnt out. This
pragmatic strategies that can be facilitated and
is felt even more by frontline healthcare workers
supported across all three levels are discussed in
including doctors and nurses, and those that directly
this article, namely interprofessional collaborative
care for clients with COVID-19. The pandemic set in
practice and clinical supervision.
at a time when healthcare resources were already
12
The Health Advocate • NOVEMBER 2021
