Supervisors info:
Ξάνθος Θεόδωρος, Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Μαιευτικής, ΠΑΔΑ
Ιακωβίδου Νικολέττα, Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Εκμεκτζόγλου Κωνσταντίνος, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Ιατρικής , EUC
Summary:
Introduction: The quality of life of healthcare workers can be significantly affected by the severity of the cardiac arrest events they face. These factors can lead to a physical and psychological burden, affecting both their professional and personal lives.
Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative study was to understand the needs of healthcare workers after resuscitation of a cardiac arrest and how their quality of life is affected. A secondary objective was the categorization of health workers according to their profession, so that it becomes clear which group of health workers needs more attention in dealing with such incidents.
Material and Method: The material of this study consisted of health workers (doctors, nurses and rescuers) who work in the Emergency Department of the University General Hospital of Ioannina, rescuers and doctors of the EKAB (National Emergency Center) of Ioannina, respectively. The sample in this particular study was 150 people. Of the 150 people, 50 questionnaires were completed by the emergency nurses of the University General Hospital of Ioannina, 30 by the emergency physicians of the University General Hospital of Ioannina and the remaining 70 questionnaires were completed by rescuers and doctors of the EKAB. After the questionnaires were distributed, they were then categorized according to the profession category of each health worker. Analysis was performed with SPSS 28.0 software and the significance level was set at 0.05 in all cases.
Results: According to the correlations between the results and the correlations of the questionnaires, it appears that overall there was a negative correlation with the fear of cardiac arrest (r=-0.247). Also, there was a negative correlation with avoidance (r=-0.196). Cardiac attention also has a negative correlation (r=-0.357). Additionally, there was a negative correlation of passivity (r=0.377). The mobilization of the family to accept help was significant, with also a negative correlation (r=-0.035). Seeking spiritual and social support also had significant negative correlations with (r=-0.164) and (r=-0.096) respectively. The only positive correlation between outcomes was redesign with (r=0.357). In more detail, for the categories of professions, there was a negative correlation with fear for doctors (r=-0.097) compared to nurses with a negative correlation (r=0.257) and rescuers with (r=-0.351). Cardiac care had a negative correlation in all three categories with (r=-0.277) among doctors, (r=-0.409) among nurses and (r=-0.382) among rescuers. For avoidance, doctors have a positive correlation (r=0.047) while the other two categories have a negative correlation with (r=-0.214) for nurses and (r=-0.316) for paramedics. Finally, all three categories of professions had a negative correlation with passivity (r=-0359 doctors, r=-0.449 nurses, r=-0.331 rescuers). Mobilization for the family had a positive correlation for doctors (r=0.140) while nurses and paramedics had a negative correlation with (r=-0.094) and (r=-0.093) respectively. Social support had a positive correlation in doctors (r=0.24) while in the other two categories it was negative (r=-0.106 nurses, r=-0.148 paramedics). Redesign had a positive correlation among doctors and nurses (r=0.609 doctors, r=0.309 nurses) while there was a negative correlation among paramedics (r=0.278).
Conclusions: Health professionals of all professions feel afraid of dealing with cardiac arrest. Also intense is the feeling of avoidance but also of heart attention. Healthcare workers seem to solve the needs arising after resuscitation of a cardiac arrest passively, asking for help from their families, looking for social and spiritual support and finally anticipating better working conditions through redesign. Doctors seem to be the least affected mentally after dealing with a cardiac arrest, followed by nurses and finally come the rescuers who deal with cardiac arrest a little more difficult than the other two categories of healthcare workers.
Keywords:
Cardiac arrest, Healthcare professionals, Quality of life, Psychological effect, Patients
