Emotional health of sanitary professionals in COVID-19 contexts: a systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis
Introduction: The pandemic caused by the appearance of the SARS-CoV-2 viral strain, which causes COVID-19, put the health systems of all countries in crisis; especially those with fewer technical and material resources. In this framework, it is relevant to know the impact of the pandemic not only on...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de La Habana
2024-06-01
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| Series: | Revista Habanera de Ciencias Médicas |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://revhabanera.sld.cu/index.php/rhab/article/view/5607 |
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| Summary: | Introduction: The pandemic caused by the appearance of the SARS-CoV-2 viral strain, which causes COVID-19, put the health systems of all countries in crisis; especially those with fewer technical and material resources. In this framework, it is relevant to know the impact of the pandemic not only on the infected population, but also on the socio-emotional health conditions of the medical personnel in charge of their care.
Objective: To develop a systematic review and a qualitative meta-synthesis of the emotional experience lived by the sanitary staff who looked after COVID-19 patients.
Material and Methods: Documentary, descriptive, integrative, and critically focused research. The texts were selected according to the following criteria: a) original papers with qualitative methodology, b) published between 2019 and 2022, c) available in English and Spanish, d) from indexed and specialized journals of health and social sciences, e) about the emotional health of the staff who looked after COVID-19 patients. Search and retrieval were made through PubMed, Google Scholar, BVS and SciELO.
Results: This review identified 80 qualitative studies that revealed the significance of emotional life during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting fear as an emerging category in most of the studies. The meta-synthesis exhibits four main topics: 1) emotional impacts change depending on gender, profession, and level of attention, 2) tensions between individual and collective emotions, 3) production of moral feelings and ethical dilemmas and 4) challenges to the healthcare system during the pandemic.
Conclusions: Identified elements emphasize the need to reevaluate conceptual precision and distinguish among the different reported life levels. It is also important to analyze in more detail the stratification of emotional life in institutional contexts due to the structural problems and shortages of healthcare systems, which were overflown by the pandemic effects. |
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| ISSN: | 1729-519X |