The Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthcare Staff in High Acuity Areas, and the Impact of Mitigation Strategies

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has been more than a global health crisis. Social problems such as depression, anxiety and fear of the future are common feelings amongst people, including healthcare staff. We conducted a survey of our frontline staff in a Singapore Public Hospital to evaluate stress, moral distress in hypothetical scenarios when resource triaging is needed and the perception of mitigation strategies implemented during the first spike in cases seen in Singapore in May 2020. Our study shows that, during the earlier part of the COVID-19 pandemic, frontline staff stress was mostly at moderate levels. Many measures and policies were implemented in Singapore to deal with COVID-19, of which, frontline staff felt that clear communication of the policies and guidelines from the government and from the hospital administration were most helpful. A follow up study to assess how staff stress levels have progressed and how their opinions have changed after more than 2 years of working in the pandemic will be ideal in guiding our future healthcare strategies.