What would have made work in the COVID-19 ICU less demanding? A qualitative study from 13 Swedish COVID-19 ICUs.

The COVID-19 pandemic stretched Swedish intensive care unit (ICU) resources to an extent never experienced before, but even before the pandemic staffing was difficult and the number of staffed ICU beds was low. Studies have revealed high levels of COVID-19 ICU staff burn-out and fatigue, and as similar situations with high demands are likely to occur in the future a better understanding of resources that improve staff resilience is important. Using the job-demand resource theory as a framework, we explored ICU professionals' views on demands and resources when working in COVID-19 ICUs with the aim to highlight factors that increased the job resources. Data were collected via a web survey distributed to COVID-19 ICU professionals, including both regular and temporary roles, working in 13 COVID-19 ICU wards in Stockholm and Sörmland counties during the spring 2021. A total of 251 written responses to the question "What would have made work in the COVID-19 ICU less demanding?" were analyzed using thematic analysis. One year later a member-checking focus group interview was conducted to validate and further explore staff experiences. The main themes were work strategy, fairness and support, continuity, accessible leadership, introduction/information, and crisis preparedness. The analysis of the focus group conducted confirmed the main results and the extreme demands on ICU staff during the initial stages of the pandemic. To increase staff health and performance in a long-term crisis our results suggest; maintaining workplace leadership, scheduling work in advance and, when possible, schedule for recovery.

Escher C ，Engqvist F ，Creutzfeldt J ，Dahl O ，Ericson M ，Meurling L ... -  《-》

Fear of making a mistake: a prominent cause of stress for COVID-19 ICU staff-a mixed-methods study.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on many domains of healthcare. Even in high-income countries such as Sweden, the number of patients has vastly outnumbered the resources in affected areas, in particular during the first wave. Staff caring for patients with COVID-19 in intensive care units (ICUs) faced a very challenging situation that continued for months. This study aimed to describe burnout, safety climate and causes of stress among staff working in COVID-19 ICUs. A survey was distributed to all staff working in ICUs treating patients with COVID-19 in five Swedish hospitals during 2020 and 2021. The numbers of respondents were 104 and 603, respectively. Prepandemic data including 172 respondents from 2018 served as baseline. Staff exhaustion increased during the pandemic, but disengagement decreased compared with prepandemic levels (p<0.001). Background factors such as profession and work experience had no significant impact, but women scored higher in exhaustion. Total workload and working during both the first and second waves correlated positively to exhaustion, as did being regular ICU staff compared with temporary staff. Teamwork and safety climate remained unchanged compared with prepandemic levels.Respondents reported 'making a mistake' as the most stressful of the predefined stressors. Qualitative analysis of open-ended questions identified 'lack of knowledge and large responsibility', 'workload and work environment', 'uncertainty', 'ethical stress' and 'organization and teamwork' as major causes of stress. Despite large workloads, disengagement at work was low in our sample, even compared with prepandemic levels. High levels of exhaustion were reported by the ICU staff who carried the largest workload. Multiple significant causes of stress were identified, with fear of making a mistake the most significant stressor.

Escher C ，Nagy E ，Creutzfeldt J ，Dahl O ，Ruiz M ，Ericson M ，Osika W ，Meurling L ... -  《-》

The Resilience Hub approach for addressing mental health of health and social care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed-methods evaluation.

Varese F ，Allsopp K ，Carter LA ，Shields G ，Hind D ，Davies L ，Barrett A ，Bhutani G ，McGuirk K ，Huntley F ，Jordan J ，Rowlandson A ，Sarsam M ，Ten Cate H ，Walker H ，Watson R ，Wilkinson J ，Willbourn J ，French P ... -  《-》

Experiences of Renal Replacement Therapy Delivery in Swedish Intensive Care Units during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a rapidly increased demand for intensive care unit (ICU) and renal replacement therapy (RRT) worldwide. RRT delivery was threatened by a lack of specially trained staff and equipment. We investigated how the first wave of COVID-19 affected RRT delivery in Swedish ICUs. An Internet-based questionnaire was sent to ICU lead physicians which included quantitative and qualitative questions regarding RRT demand, equipment availability, and use of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), intermittent haemodialysis (IHD), and peritoneal dialysis (PD) during spring 2020. Twenty-five ICUs responded and these treated 64% of COVID-19 ICU patients in Sweden. ICU capacity increased by 292% (IQR 171-347%). Median peak capacity was reached during the 18th week of the year. RRT use increased overall by 133% and in Stockholm by 188%. 36% of units sequestered CRRT machines. IHD was used in 68% and PD in 12% of ICUs. RRT fluid and filter shortages were experienced by 45% and 33% of wards, respectively; consequently, prescription alterations were made by 24% of ICUs. Calcium solution shortages were reported in 12% of units that led to citrate protocol changes. Staffing shortages resulted in RRT sometimes being delivered by non-RRT-trained staff, safety incidents relating to this occurred, although no patient harm was reported. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, RRT demand increased extensively causing staff and equipment shortages, altered CRRT protocols, and increased use of IHD and PD. The impact on patient outcomes should be assessed to effectively plan for further surge capacity RRT demand.

Hertzberg D ，Renberg M ，Nyman J ，Bell M ，Rimes Stigare C ... -  《-》

Coronavirus disease 2019 crisis in Paris: A differential psychological impact between regular intensive care unit staff members and reinforcement workers.

Intensive care unit (ICU) healthcare workers (HCWs) are at the forefront of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. To overcome the lack of human resources during this crisis, some ICUs had to mobilise staff from a reinforcement pool, with no or outdated ICU experience. This study aimed to investigate and to compare the psychological impact of the pandemic on regular ICU staff members and reinforcement workers. Self-assessment questionnaires were completed by HCWs who worked from March 1 to April 30, 2020, in our 16-bed neurological ICU at La Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, France, which was converted to a COVID ICU. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5, McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire-Revised, and 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale were used to assess anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, quality of life, and resilience, respectively. Sixty-nine ICU HCWs completed the survey (37 from the team of regular staff members, i.e., from the public health service, and 32 from a reinforcement pool, either from non-ICU public health service or from private healthcare interim employment agencies). Prevalence of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms was high, at 19%, 9%, and 16%, respectively, with limited impairment in quality of life or resilience scores. Depression symptoms were observed more in regular staff members than in welcomed reinforcement workers, at 16% and 0%, respectively. These results revealed that during the pandemic, HCWs from the team of regular staff members were at greater risk of developing psychological disorder compared with reinforcement workers, with higher levels of depressive symptoms.

Altmayer V ，Weiss N ，Cao A ，Marois C ，Demeret S ，Rohaut B ，Le Guennec L ，Réa-Neuro-Pitié-Salpêtriere study group ... -  《Australian Critical Care》