Healthcare Workers & Distressed Patients Disagree Over Covid Treatment
Nikki Attkisson | Last Updated : December 28, 2021The Global outbreak of Covid-19 has inculcated a stressful environment in the routine life of the frontline workers. Treating Covid-19 patients day-in and day-out only to watch them losing hopes and ending lives takes an emotional toll as well, along with the grave physical damage it causes.
Healthcare Workers & Distressed Patients Disagree Over Covid Treatment
Dr. Jack Lyons, while being interviewed, goes back to the initial days of the pandemic when people were grateful enough to honor the healthcare workers for their dedication amidst the tough times banging pots and pans. But with the course of time, people have gone off their patience levels and turned against them just to save their lives.
The healthcare workers across the globe today are encountered with the raging folks who just storm into the hospital, keep questioning their treatments for Covid-19, and do not even step back from threatening to lock the hospital.
The Spread Of Misinformation Adds Trouble
With the onset of the omicron and cases surging in the US, one more challenge that came up is the spread of misinformation related to the pandemic and effectiveness of the vaccines. It is being rumored that the vaccines carry the microchips and may alter people’s DNA, demeaning the vaccine efficacy and masking mandates. Lyon’s ICU is almost filled with patients, about 70% of which are unvaccinated.
The various demands that stemmed from the misleading information have compelled the hospitals to provide unauthorized treatments like ivermectin. It is a drug designed to treat parasites and for deworming of animals and eventually, it is raising the cases of several other illnesses.
The skeptical unvaccinated patients being manipulated by the rumors keep demanding several alternative treatments which are not yet approved by science. In despair, people get persuaded by the charlatans and the snake-oil salesman and resort to unethical therapies to save their loved ones. A hope of herd immunity has crawled into the picture, adding to the vaccine hesitancy among people.
The Distress Of Medical Community
The pandemic has exhausted the frontline workers who are engaged with Covid patients round the clock. More than one in every five healthcare workers is suffering from anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder amidst pandemics.
A nurse practitioner working at the University of Texas at Tyler, Barbara Chapman, had initiated a hotline to extend mental health support to the teachers and health care workers. There are many, like that from Christiana Care which started ‘Covid-Conversations’ for all physicians to assemble and share their feelings with each other. Even if they are all dedicated to taking the world out of this pandemic, the persistent vaccine hesitancy and distrust for the medical practitioners leave all of their efforts futile.
The reports from John Hopkins disclose the number of deaths averaged 1,324 per day last week, which has hiked up to 11% higher than the last week. Still, the realization of vaccine urgency has not hit the common folks.
Healthcare Workers Losing Hopes
The American Medical Association warns of having a ‘turn-over wave’ among the medical community after performing a study on the relationship between the stress related to the pandemic and the work intentions of US health care workers.
The study discloses that one in every five physicians and two in every five nurses are willing to give up their current practice. When asked the reason, many of them turned up with the same plea that it is terrible to see their ardent efforts to save the lives of people, going in vain.
The many sacrifices they made, living away from their families, dealing with patients with the sheer shortages of protection equipment, canceling vacations, etc. must be acknowledged. The medical practitioners undergo moral breakdown when left unappreciated and finally, they resort to dropping their profession
With over 15 years as a practicing journalist, Nikki Attkisson found herself at Powdersville Post now after working at several other publications. She is an award-winning journalist with an entrepreneurial spirit and worked as a journalist covering technology, innovation, environmental issues, politics, health etc. Nikki Attkisson has also worked on product development, content strategy, and editorial management for numerous media companies. She began her career at local news stations and worked as a reporter in national newspapers.