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. 2024 Feb 1;21(2):171.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph21020171.

Adapting the Stress First Aid Model for Frontline Healthcare Workers during COVID-19

Mayer H Bellehsen  1   2   3 , Haley M Cook  1   4 , Pooja Shaam  1   4 , Daniella Burns  1   3 , Peter D'Amico  2 , Arielle Goldberg  1   3 , Mary Beth McManus  3 , Manish Sapra  2   3 , Lily Thomas  5 , Annmarie Wacha-Montes  1   3 , George Zenzerovich  1   3 , Patricia Watson  6 , Richard J Westphal  7 , Rebecca M Schwartz  1   2   4
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Adapting the Stress First Aid Model for Frontline Healthcare Workers during COVID-19

Mayer H Bellehsen et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic has generated and continues to create unprecedented demands on our healthcare systems. Healthcare workers (HCWs) face physical and psychological stresses caring for critically ill patients, including experiencing anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Nurses and nursing staff disproportionately experienced COVID-19-related psychological distress due to their vital role in infection mitigation and direct patient care. Therefore, there is a critical need to understand the short- and long-term impact of COVID-19 stress exposures on nursing staff wellbeing and to assess the impact of wellbeing programs aimed at supporting HCWs. To that end, the current study aims to evaluate an evidence-informed peer support stress reduction model, Stress First Aid (SFA), implemented across units within a psychiatric hospital in the New York City area during the pandemic. To examine the effectiveness of SFA, we measured stress, burnout, coping self-efficacy, resilience, and workplace support through self-report surveys completed by nurses and nursing staff over twelve months. The implementation of SFA across units has the potential to provide the workplace-level and individual-level skills necessary to reduce stress and promote resilience, which can be utilized and applied during waves of respiratory illness acuity or any other healthcare-related stressors among this population.

Keywords: COVID-19; Stress First Aid; burnout; nurses; resilience; stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Impact of Stress First Aid.
Figure 2
Figure 2
SFA self-efficacy across all time points.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Resilience across all time points.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Awareness of wellbeing resources across all time points.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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