Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jun 12;7(6):ofaa230.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofaa230. eCollection 2020 Jun.

Coronavirus 2019 Silver Linings

Amelia Santosa  1   2 , Gail Cross  3   2 , Jolene Ee Ling Oon  3   2 , Sophia Archuleta  3   2 , Yock Young Dan  4   2
Affiliations

Coronavirus 2019 Silver Linings

Amelia Santosa et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

A heightened state of alert due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak was declared by the Singapore Ministry of Health on February 7, 2020. Within the hospital, team reorganizations, workflow revisions, and physical segregation caused anxiety among healthcare workers (HCWs). Fear of the unknown and emotional and physical fatigue started to take their toll on HCWs. We share our learning journey over the first 8 weeks of COVID-19: the importance of acknowledging fears and questions, and transforming them to collective knowledge; the role of empathic, hands-on leadership that brings camaraderie and calms scepticism; the importance of validating efforts and acknowledging hardship; and, most importantly, the security that comes from camaraderie, breaking down hierarchical barriers, and motivating each other to keep on going.

Keywords: COVID-19; burnout; pandemic.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
NUS COVID-19 Chronicles Episode 11: Our Duty, Our Calling. Credits: NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. Available at http://nusmedicine.nus.edu.sg/medias/news-info/2233-the-covid-19-chronicles
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. What do the different DORSCON levels mean Available at: https://www.gov.sg/article/what-do-the-different-dorscon-levels-mean. Accessed 17 March 2020.
    1. Rankin WW, Brennan S, Schell E, et al. . The stigma of being HIV-positive in Africa. PLoS Med 2005; 2:e247. - PMC - PubMed
    1. O’Leary A, Jalloh MF, Neria Y. Fear and culture: contextualising mental health impact of the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa. BMJ Glob Health 2018; 3:e000924. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tak HJ, Curlin FA, Yoon JD. Association of intrinsic motivating factors and markers of physician well-being: a national physician survey. J Gen Intern Med 2017; 32:739–46. - PMC - PubMed
    1. McAlonan GM, Lee AM, Cheung V, et al. . Immediate and sustained psychological impact of an emerging infectious disease outbreak on health care workers. Can J Psychiatry 2007; 52:241–7. - PubMed