‘I Need My Brain!’: Horrors of Long COVID in HCWs
May 1, 2024
A systematic review of studies on healthcare workers who experienced long COVID in the United Kingdom revealed that many struggled to separate their clinical identity from that of a patient.
“I have found it very difficult to dissociate my doctor’s brain from my patient’s brain,” one physician said. “I’m a trainer as well, and I found it very difficult to dissociate my educator’s brain from my patient’s brain, so I’ve had that dynamic going on for several weeks.”1
Healthcare workers with various symptoms of long COVID endured over different lengths of time recognized the uncertainty of their symptoms of this poorly understood syndrome and feared they would be perceived as a burden.
“Based on their experience of patients experiencing uncertain and persistent COVID symptoms, participants also reflected on their role as healthcare workers and their attitude in dealing with patients’ concerns and requests in the past,” the researchers reported. “Their own experience was an opportunity to re-evaluate the needs of patients and adopt a more sympathetic approach in the future.”
This came as a powerful insight to some of the clinicians. One physician noted, “A number of us in the group have said how ashamed we are of some of the attitudes we’ve had toward people and lack of empathy. This concept of being irritated by patients when they’re not really pleased when something comes back normal. Hopefully, it will make me a better and more empathetic doctor at the end.”
The HCWs felt obligated to share their insights and raise awareness that could help others with long COVID in the future. “Participants reflected on how to overcome the limitations of the current health services for patients with COVID,” the authors noted. “They advocated a multidisciplinary approach to identify and address long COVID symptoms and the need for more personalized services.”
The definition of long COVID used in the study was post-infection signs and symptoms for four weeks or longer. “Participants experienced and described unfamiliar, unpredictable, and fluctuating symptoms which did not fit their clinical knowledge,” the authors found. “As healthcare workers, participants were able to recognize their physical and mental symptoms but struggled to make sense of the nature and duration of these symptoms. They expressed concern about returning to work too soon or before the complete resolution of symptoms.”
Most participants described a frustrating deterioration in their ability to carry out everyday tasks due to brain fog and other factors that made some question the safety of their practice.
“The brain stuff seems to be getting better — to the level that I can function,” another physician said. “When the brain wasn’t working, that made me very scared because I need my brain! With the chest pain and stuff, I can still work because I can work remotely. If I don’t have my brain, I can’t work, I can’t plan, I can’t string a sentence together. I did get a bit scared when I was ill for so long.”
REFERENCE
- Cruickshank M, Brazzelli M, Manson P, et al. What is the impact of long-term COVID-19 on workers in healthcare settings? A rapid systematic review of current evidence. PLoS One 2024;19:e0299743.
A systematic review of studies on healthcare workers who experienced long COVID in the United Kingdom revealed that many struggled to separate their clinical identity from that of a patient. Healthcare workers with various symptoms of long COVID endured over different lengths of time recognized the uncertainty of their symptoms of this poorly understood syndrome and feared they would be perceived as a burden.
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