Experiences, distress and burden among neurologists in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic.
<h4>Background</h4>The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused rapid changes in the healthcare system. Workforce reorganization, reduced standard of care and a lack of personal protection equipment (PPE) for health care workers were among the concerns raised in the first wave of the pandemi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2021-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246567 |
| _version_ | 1818585723329052672 |
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| author | Espen Saxhaug Kristoffersen Bendik Slagsvold Winsvold Else Charlotte Sandset Anette Margrethe Storstein Kashif Waqar Faiz |
| author_facet | Espen Saxhaug Kristoffersen Bendik Slagsvold Winsvold Else Charlotte Sandset Anette Margrethe Storstein Kashif Waqar Faiz |
| author_sort | Espen Saxhaug Kristoffersen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Background</h4>The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused rapid changes in the healthcare system. Workforce reorganization, reduced standard of care and a lack of personal protection equipment (PPE) for health care workers were among the concerns raised in the first wave of the pandemic. Our aim was to explore the experiences, distress and burden among Norwegian neurologists during the first weeks of the pandemic.<h4>Methods</h4>Hospital-based neurologists in Norway (n = 400) were invited to a web-based survey in April 2020. The study focused on patient management, organizational changes and personal stress during the first weeks of the pandemic lockdown. Work-home interface stress was assessed by the Cooper Job Stress Questionnaire.<h4>Results</h4>In total, 135 neurologists participated. Seventy-three% experienced a change in their personal work situation, and 67% examined patients with suspected COVID-19 infection and neurological disease. Changed access to resources, and the perception that medical follow-up was unsatisfactory, were associated with a high degree of burden and stress. Neurologists were also worried about the potential lack of PPE and the fear of spreading SARS CoV-2 to close family members. The mean score of work-home interface stress was 2.8 with no significant differences between gender or specialist status. Reduced standard of care was reported for all neurological conditions, and in particular for non-emergency treatments.<h4>Conclusion</h4>The vast majority of neurologists in Norway experienced a change in their personal work situation during the first phase of the pandemic. The fear of becoming infected and ill was not a major contributor to burden and stress. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T08:41:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bd8e0f78f0ba47dea202e47c6bbf0245 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T08:41:36Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-bd8e0f78f0ba47dea202e47c6bbf02452022-12-21T22:37:40ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032021-01-01162e024656710.1371/journal.pone.0246567Experiences, distress and burden among neurologists in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic.Espen Saxhaug KristoffersenBendik Slagsvold WinsvoldElse Charlotte SandsetAnette Margrethe StorsteinKashif Waqar Faiz<h4>Background</h4>The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused rapid changes in the healthcare system. Workforce reorganization, reduced standard of care and a lack of personal protection equipment (PPE) for health care workers were among the concerns raised in the first wave of the pandemic. Our aim was to explore the experiences, distress and burden among Norwegian neurologists during the first weeks of the pandemic.<h4>Methods</h4>Hospital-based neurologists in Norway (n = 400) were invited to a web-based survey in April 2020. The study focused on patient management, organizational changes and personal stress during the first weeks of the pandemic lockdown. Work-home interface stress was assessed by the Cooper Job Stress Questionnaire.<h4>Results</h4>In total, 135 neurologists participated. Seventy-three% experienced a change in their personal work situation, and 67% examined patients with suspected COVID-19 infection and neurological disease. Changed access to resources, and the perception that medical follow-up was unsatisfactory, were associated with a high degree of burden and stress. Neurologists were also worried about the potential lack of PPE and the fear of spreading SARS CoV-2 to close family members. The mean score of work-home interface stress was 2.8 with no significant differences between gender or specialist status. Reduced standard of care was reported for all neurological conditions, and in particular for non-emergency treatments.<h4>Conclusion</h4>The vast majority of neurologists in Norway experienced a change in their personal work situation during the first phase of the pandemic. The fear of becoming infected and ill was not a major contributor to burden and stress.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246567 |
| spellingShingle | Espen Saxhaug Kristoffersen Bendik Slagsvold Winsvold Else Charlotte Sandset Anette Margrethe Storstein Kashif Waqar Faiz Experiences, distress and burden among neurologists in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic. PLoS ONE |
| title | Experiences, distress and burden among neurologists in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| title_full | Experiences, distress and burden among neurologists in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| title_fullStr | Experiences, distress and burden among neurologists in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Experiences, distress and burden among neurologists in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| title_short | Experiences, distress and burden among neurologists in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| title_sort | experiences distress and burden among neurologists in norway during the covid 19 pandemic |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246567 |
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