Mental health and psycho-social considerations by Nursing Officer during the COVID-19 outbreak
Every day, there is an upsurge of more than 40,000 corona cases in India. On one side, the disease is taking a dreadful image and on the other side, it is adversely affecting the psychological health of the people. Recently, one patient diagnosed as coronavirus positive committed suicide by jumping off the fourth floor of the hospital where he was admitted.
When such cases come across, it is indeed distressing and heart-wrenching. Either people have made their false inferences or dissemination of fake information on social media has developed such a frightening situation. Ever since the corona disease has occurred, the life of the people has abruptly altered.
Nowadays, people are more stressed out because they have been imprisoned in their homes since the lockdown. Many of them are in a state of apprehension of losing their own life, loved ones, or jobs. It is an alarming situation for them as they are facing multiple issues. And if these people develop any symptom or become sick to the Noval coronavirus, they lose their mental balance and take any step to end their life.
As a nursing officer, we possess a lot of responsibilities. Being a front line warrior and working relentlessly for the patients round the clock. But somewhere we are losing the part of psychological support which is need of the hour. Our job is not only to provide clinical care to the patient but to adopt holistic care. We should support and motivate them to fight against this disease because a sound mind lives in a sound body. It is very important for the patient and their families to mentally strong in this pandemic time. We need to inculcate a habit of talking to them, identify the early warning signs of distress, report, record, counsel, and get expert inputs during patient care and help them to strengthen their mental equilibrium.
Some tips to be given to the patient to improve their mental health:
1) Maintain your daily routines like eating, sleeping, and exercise.
2) Communicate with your family and friends.
3) Do not pay attention to trumped-up stories and information related to Corona.
4) Maintain self-confidence and self-esteem.
5) Find purpose and meaning in life.
6) Maintain good health hygiene.
7) Talk about your feeling.
8) Seek immediate help if there is any problem.
Not only in the hospital settings, but we should develop a practice of providing health education in our day to day life. This will help in resolving the wrong perception about this disease and rebuilding a better society.
I hope together we can win this battle.
Salute to all Nursing Officers.🙏🙏
Pankaj Kumar Nagar
Nursing Officer
Aiims, New Delhi
EDITED BY: MS. ALKA RAI
Well said nd good point of view pankaj keep it up…
Very good Mr. Pankaj.
Congratulations.
you had bringup,the very important issue, which is indeed most neglected during this pandemic especially in the hospitals setting and needed the most ,to be addressed on priority.
Keep it up💐😊