Preparing for the Second Surge: Preventing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Building Resilience for Health Care Workers in the Face of COVID-19
Todd Benham, Alexander Hart, Michelangelo Bortolin, Michael Court, John T. Groves, Anthony Kraus, Brad Newbury, Amalia Voskanyan, Madeline Yogman, Fahad Alhajjaj, Yousef AlMalki, Bader Alossaimi, Oluwafunbi Awoniyi, Adham Sameer A. Bardeesi, Srihari Cattamanchi, Bridget Edwards, Anthony Wright de Hernandez, Fadi Issa, Philip Manners, Michael Molloy, Douglas Romney, Debra K. Weiner, Gregory R. Ciottone
Abstract
The global community needs to be aware of the potential psychosocial consequences that may be experienced by health care workers who are actively managing patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). These health care workers are at increased risk for experiencing mood and trauma-related disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this concept article, strategies are recommended for individual health care workers and hospital leadership to aid in mitigating the risk of PTSD, as well as to build resilience in light of a potential second surge of COVID-19.