The Well-Being of Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review.
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has turned into a global healthcare challenge, causing significant morbidity and mortality.Healthcare workers (HCWs) who are on the frontline of the COVID-19 outbreak response face an increased risk of contracting the disease. Some common challenges encountered by HCWs include exposure to the pathogen, psychological distress, and long working hours. In addition, HCWs may be more prone to develop mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep disorders, and drug addictions compared to the general population. These issues arise from increased job stress, fear of spreading the disease to loved ones, and potential discrimination or stigma associated with the disease. This study aims to review the current literature to explore the effects of COVID-19 on healthcare providers' physical and mental well-being and suggest interventional strategies to combat these issues. To that end, we performed a literature search on Google Scholar and PubMed databases using combinations of the following keywords and synonyms: "SARS-CoV-2", "Healthcare-worker", "COVID-19", "Well-being", "Wellness", "Depression", "Anxiety", and "PTSD."