The self-perception of health and safety of health professionals in coping with covid-19

Abstract

During the pandemic, healthcare workers adapted to the new routine of Covid-19 protocols. In addition to the occupational risks of the profession, they also had to deal with the risks related to SARS-CoV-2. Overwork, lack of equipment, vacancies, reduced bed numbers, and fake news about medications without scientific proof, in addition to fear and insecurity in hospitals have led health professionals to exhaustion. The aim of this study is to analyze how self-perception about health and safety of health professionals can be observed in the discourses of protection in the pandemic context. The methodological basis is mixed in nature. The integrative literature review is used together with the questionnaire technique for the survey of information about the self-perception of the studied professionals. The results indicate that, linguistically, the image of professionals about health and safety is a mental health intervention is fundamental, considering that 90.5% of the sample said to be at the limit of exhaustion and 73.8% said to have been psychologically shaken by the pandemic. Stress, anxiety, changes in sleep pattern, and irritability were the most common changes in daily working life. The phenomenon of fake news also proved to be a major difficulty for workers working in the pandemic, and the discourses of the media and the general population directly influenced how to cope with the disease. It is concluded that post-pandemic psychological support is essential for workers and recent studies focused on post-pandemic effects and their influence in terms of discourse analysis. Keywords: Covid-19, health professionals, protection speeches, vaccination.