Critical Issues of Working during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Italian Healthcare Workers’ Experience

Bibliographic Data

ID15513532
AuthorsSilvia Vicentini (Department of Mental Health, Local Health Unit 5, 45100 Rovigo, Italy), Arianna Mercurio (0000-0002-8453-1831, Department of Mental Health, Local Health Unit 5, 45100 Rovigo, Italy), Carolina Romascu (Department of Mental Health, Local Health Unit 5, 45100 Rovigo, Italy), Martina Battaglia (0000-0003-0204-0631, Department of Mental Health, Local Health Unit 5, 45100 Rovigo, Italy), Noemi Tribbia (0000-0003-2705-9531, Department of Mental Health, Local Health Unit 5, 45100 Rovigo, Italy), Francesca Siviero (Department of Mental Health, Local Health Unit 5, 45100 Rovigo, Italy), Antonello Grossi (Department of Mental Health, Local Health Unit 5, 45100 Rovigo, Italy), Maria Maddalena Martucci (Department of Mental Health, Local Health Unit 5, 45100 Rovigo, Italy, corresponding author), Diego De Leo (0000-0001-8255-6480, Griffith University, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume19
Issue2
Pages927-927
Publication date2022-01-14
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph19020927
PMID35055746
OpenAlexW4205570920
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited26

Background : The COVID-19 pandemic has strongly impacted on healthcare services' organization and healthcare workers' mental health, increasing the risk of psychological symptoms and burnout. Italy has been one of the most affected countries, especially the northern regions, even with exceptions in some rural provinces. Aim : We chose to investigate the mental health conditions of healthcare workers operating in the rural province of Rovigo (a small town in Veneto, northern Italy), where relatively few deaths and contagions were reported during the pandemic, even if Veneto-globally-was one of the most affected regions of Italy. We wanted to verify the psychological outcomes of health workers operating in a context where the impact of the pandemic appeared to be relatively mild. Methods : Through an online survey, we investigated perceived difficulties at work and in daily life, perceived loneliness and social support, coping strategies, and level of psychological distress (sample size: 749; mean age = 48.04 years, SD = 10.66). The questionnaire had both open- (2) and close-ended questions (5 single-choice and 13 multiple-choice). We verified possible associations between sex, age group, work department and percentage of responses with chi-square tests of independence on each question. Data cleaning excluded all contradictory answers from the multiple-choice questions from the analyses (final sample size: 640). Results : Frontliners and non-frontliners reported a similar experience of the COVID-19 pandemic (without significant differences in perceived difficulties, coping strategies and sources of support). Nevertheless, they still reported various forms of negative emotions (e.g., helplessness-40.94%; sadness-36.56%; frustration-32.66%) and lack of support from the health organization (especially frontliners-28.72%). However, psychological help was scarcely requested. Conclusions : Despite the province not being massively affected by the pandemic, healthcare workers felt the need for clearer and more supportive guidance. They seem to perceive collective opportunities to share needs and difficulties as more useful than individual interventions (as those provided by the ad hoc created listening service)

2019-20 coronavirus outbreak · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Economic growth · Economics · Health care · Pandemic · Personal protective equipment · Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 · COVID-19 and Mental Health · COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts · Employment and Welfare Studies · Medicine · Virology

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