Webclip SQ EN_Nursing Home Staff Need Mental Health Support During COVID-19

Nursing Home Staff Face Heightened Stress and Grief During COVID-19

The impact of COVID-19 on nursing homes in the US has taken a significant toll on the dedicated staff who work in these facilities. “We were overworked, trying to do all the right things, trying to care for these residents to the best of your ability with the little strength you had at that time,” says Adelia Patterson, wellness and life enrichment director at Focused Care at Beechnut nursing home in Houston, Texas. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams have provided training and support for overwhelmed nursing home staff in the US during a time of acute emotional stress. Nurse Tiffany Bell says, “Even after COVID, we're going to need some type of therapy or counseling because it just has done so much damage to us emotionally.” MSF has provided mental health support training to more than 80 long-term care facilities in the US.

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Michigan COVID-19_Nursing Homes & Adult Foster Care Facilities

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Unique Identifier Code / URN MSF337407

Date taken / Date Recorded 15/10/2020 12:00 AM

Country USA

Commissioning section MSF-UNITED STATES

Usage Rights (MSF) Advertising Campaign, External Media, MSF Fundraising, MSF Publications, Social Media

Formal Consent Copy available yes

Editor's rating ★★★★★★★ (A)

Video format h264 (Main) (avc1 / 0x31637661)

Duration 3m12s

Maximum Size 1080px × 1080px 248.38 MB

Additional Information / Shotlist When COVID-19 arrived in our community, it was the beginning of the unknown.

TEXT 1
The lives and health—including mental health—of nursing home staff in the US have been hugely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was just like one day going about your normal daily business. Come to work normally. Then the next day it's like locked down and you have people passing away.

It became a domino effect to where everybody just started passing away and we still didn't, at that time, know how severe and how serious it was until it was unmanageable.

TEXT 2
Most long-term care facilities in the US have not received adequate infection and prevention control (IPC) training. When the pandemic arrived, they were simply unprepared— and the impact was devastating.

We put in a lot of long hours taking care of our residents and trying to take care of our loved ones at home. We were numb. We were scared, we didn't know what was happening.

We were understaffed most of the time because everybody got affected; I personally got affected.

We were overworked, trying to do all the right things, trying to care for these residents to the best of your ability with the little strength you had at that time.

I told him I said, "Well, we're going to send you down to the COVID unit," and he was like, "I'm probably going to die. I'm probably going to never see you again."

I know who you're talking about.

Nothing can prepare you for that, to hear that.

We were terrified, but we had 100 souls counting on us and we couldn't just walk away and lock ourselves in our home like everybody else was told to do. We had to figure out a way to get out here and take care of these souls.

We're all scared. This is our profession and we know what is entailed in that.

TEXT 3
These dedicated staff need tailored, in-person training so they can confidently keep their residents and themselves safe.
They also require mental health and wellness support.
So, MSF brought both IPC and psychosocial training to more than 80 long-term care facilities in the US.

We lost a coworker. He was more than a coworker, he was like family. He was really something special to the facility and while he was in the hospital we were Face Timing him and he would be like, "I'm fighting. I'm trying to come back. I'm trying to get better," and he didn't come back. He didn't get better.

Even after COVID, we're going to need some type of therapy or counseling because it just has done so much damage to us emotionally.