Utilizing Employer Created Social Support Programs to Assist Frontline Nurses to Cope with the Psychological Symptoms of Trauma-Induced Stress and Burnout connected to Patient Death during the COVID-19 Healthcare Crisis in the United States

Abstract

According to the latest epidemiological data from the National Center for Health Statistics, the total number of confirmed patient deaths at hospitals nationwide associated with COVID-19 between January 1st, 2020 and April 24th, 2021 has reached 569,771, a figure that continues to rise steadily each month, despite government efforts to vaccinate the nation's population against the disease (CDC tracker data updated, April 2021). Research shows that the effects of the COVID 19 crisis have had a devastating impact on the lives of thousands of health care workers and forced hospitals across the country to operate at maximum capacity, sometimes to the point of overload. Hospitals have given frontline staff, especially nurses, the primary responsibility for providing compassionate first-rate care to these critically ill patients in high-risk infectious disease settings. Nurses caring for patients with COVID 19 have witnessed a high volume of fatalities within a short space of time, which has resulted in severe adverse effects on their mental health. Frequent exposure to unmitigated loss of life on inpatient intensive care units and in emergency rooms nationwide triggered by the escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic is fast becoming a significant source of acute psychological and physical distress for a substantial number of nurses and other frontline service providers engaged in the battle to save the lives during this unprecedented time. A review of the results of studies cited in the nursing literature provides substantial evidence that demonstrates that nurses exposed to a high number of COVID-19 deaths daily are at increased risk for developing symptoms of psychopathology such as clinical depression, severe anxiety, and fatigue that can impair their job performance and lead to burnout (Maharaj et al., 2018, p. 61). The purpose of this article will be to examine the effectiveness of employer-created social support programs as an institutional resource to help frontline nurses deal with the psychological symptoms of trauma associated with patient death resulting from the COVID-19 healthcare crisis.