NEARLY half of ICU medics are “plagued by problem drinking, severe anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)”, experts warn.
Poor mental health was found to be more common among intensive care staff working through the coronavirus pandemic, new research shows.
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Nurses work on patients in the intensive care unit in St George’s Hospital in Tooting, south west London, earlier this weekCredit: PA:Press Association
The study, published in the journal Occupational Medicine, showed nurses are likely suffering more than doctors or health workers on the ward.
Researchers from King’s College London used data from 709 healthcare workers from nine ICUs in England, including 291 doctors, 344 nurses and 74 other healthcare staff.
They were asked to complete anonymous web-based surveys in June and July 2020.
Over half reported their wellbeing as being good but 45 per cent met the threshold for probable clinical significance for at least one condition.
These included severe depression (six per cent) , PTSD (40 per cent), severe anxiety (11 per cent) or problem drinking (seven per cent).
‘CHALLENGING STRESSORS’
One in eight workers said they’d had frequent thoughts of being better off dead, or of hurting themselves in the previous two weeks.
Lead author, Professor Neil Greenberg, from the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s, said: “Our results show a substantial burden of mental health symptoms being reported by ICU staff towards the end of the first wave in July and July 2020.
“The severity of symptoms we identified are highly likely to impair some ICU staffs ability to provide high quality care as well as negatively impacting on their quality of life.
“The high rate of mortality amongst Covid-19 patients admitted to ICU – coupled with difficulty in communication and providing adequate end-of-life support to patients and their next of kin because of visiting restrictions – are very likely to have been highly challenging stressors for all staff working in ICUs.”
PTSD is caused by stressful, frightening or distressing events and symptoms include repeated nightmares and flashbacks.
Data from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey of 2004, the most recent data available, found four per cent of people in the general population screened positive for PTSD, rising to 13 per cent of young women aged 16 to 24.
Some six per cent of people suffered anxiety disorder while four per cent had depression.
Prof Greenberg said that while the results of his new study were not surprising, “they should serve as a stark reminder to NHS managers of the pressing need to protect the mental health of ICU workers now in order to ensure they can deliver vital care to those in need”.
He added: “If we protect the mental health of healthcare workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, staff will be better able to sustainably deliver high quality care to the large numbers of patients seriously unwell with Covid-19.”
HUGE IMPACT
The researchers on the paper, including experts from University College London and the University of Oxford, said further work was now needed.
They said self-report questionnaires can sometimes overestimate the rate of clinically relevant mental health symptoms.
Dame Donna Kinnair, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said: “The unprecedented demand on nursing staff during the pandemic is having a huge impact on their own wellbeing.
“The nurses I speak to every day tell me that they have no fuel left in the tank and their resilience is being seriously tested.
“It is vital the support is available where and when it is needed and that managers encourage and support staff to seek help.
“Nursing staff need help now to deal with unimaginable levels of anxiety and stress, but there must also be a long-term plan to tackle problems, like PTSD, which may reoccur over many years.”
An NHS spokeswoman said: “This is an incredibly tough time for NHS staff working on the front line which is why we have invested £15 million in support, including 38 local mental health and wellbeing hubs and a service for staff with complex mental health needs, such as trauma and addiction.
“The public can also help to support doctors and nurses by following the ‘hands, space, face’ guidance to reduce pressure on hospitals and save lives.”
