Stress among frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed our daily life. In paticular, it has had a huge impact on healthcare workers. Healthcare workers on the front line who have dedicatedly worked at high risk of infection were featured in TV very frequently. Although the author has treated COVID-19 patients in an ICU of Tokyo Metropolitan Bokutoh Hospital, these scenes were different from the author’s own experience. I have felt something strange with the word “healthcare worker’s stress” used on TV show. Herein, an interview with nurses and doctors was conducted to clarify real world stress experiences in this hospital. In this article, the author’s own experience together with private opinions from the colleagues through the interview is described. Furthermore, working environments in which healthcare providers can work without too much stress are discussed.