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. 2020 Dec 16;10(12):e043949.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-043949.

COVID-19 confessions: a qualitative exploration of healthcare workers experiences of working with COVID-19

Paul Bennett  1 , S Noble  2 , Stephen Johnston  3 , David Jones  4 , Rachael Hunter  3
Affiliations

COVID-19 confessions: a qualitative exploration of healthcare workers experiences of working with COVID-19

Paul Bennett et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objectives: To gain insight into the experiences and concerns of front-line National Health Service (NHS) workers while caring for patients with COVID-19.

Design: Qualitative analysis of data collected through an anonymous website (www.covidconfidential) provided a repository of uncensored COVID-19 experiences of front-line NHS workers, accessed via a link advertised on the Twitter feed of two high profile medical tweeters and their retweets.

Setting: Community of NHS workers who accessed this social media.

Participants: 54 healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses and physiotherapists, accessed the website and left a 'story'.

Results: Stories ranged from 1 word to 10 min in length. Thematic analysis identified common themes, with a central aspect being the experience and psychological consequence of trauma. Specific themes were: (1) the shock of the virus, (2) staff sacrifice and dedication, (3) collateral damage ranging from personal health concerns to the long-term impact on, and care of, discharged patients and (4) a hierarchy of power and inequality within the healthcare system.

Conclusions: COVID-19 confidential gave an outlet for unprompted and uncensored stories of healthcare workers in the context of COVID-19. In addition to personal experiences of trauma, there were perceptions that many operational difficulties stemmed from inequalities of power between management and front-line workers. Learning from these experiences will reduce staff distress and improve patient care in the face of further waves of the pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; human resource management; mental health.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The five themes identified in the transcripts.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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