Health Care Professionals' Views on Healthcare Provision During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

Objective: The Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak put a heavy burden on the health system. In this process, determining the difficulties faced by healthcare professionals is important in terms of making the necessary preparations for similar outbreaks and improving healthcare provision. The aim of the study was to determine the views of healthcare professionals about healthcare provision and the difficulties they faced during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Methods: The descriptive study was carried out with the participation of 89 doctors and 58 nurses working in a university hospital in the Black Sea Region. In the study, the data form developed by the researchers and the job-related strain were used as data collection tools. Results: While the psychological difficulty stated by the participants in the study was the anxiety of infecting the family/relatives (93.2%), the factor that made the service delivery the most participants was expressed as the discomfort (85%) caused by using personal protective equipment. It was found that the level of anxiety felt while providing healthcare services was higher in women compared to men (p=0.01) and nurses than physicians (p=0.001). The average score of the participants on the job-related strain was 37.51 +/- 5.80. Conclusion: The concern of infecting relatives/family during the COVID-19 pandemic poses a psychological difficulty for healthcare professionals. Using many personal protective equipments is a factor that makes service delivery difficult. The level of anxiety associated with providing health care is higher in nurses and women during this period.