After studying Module 2: Lecture Materials & Resources, discuss the following:? How has COVID-19 affected your personal beliefs/values in your clinical practice? Include

Module 2 Discussion

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare fraternity implemented various urgent responses and interventions to detect, diagnose, combat, treat, and manage further contamination. However, nurses and other primary health care providers ultimately positioned at the frontline in the fight against the pandemic were potentially at risk of contracting the illness for themselves and likely to spread to other individuals or their families following close contact (Patel & Metersky, 2021). Such uncertainties forced the health workforce to choose or be forced to remain in isolation from their loved ones. Such experiences were devastatingly stressful, with subsequent impact on personal values and beliefs. This paper will discuss the COVID-19’s effect on personal beliefs and values in clinical practice.

 Provision of health care during the COVID-19 pandemic was overwhelmingly challenging and stressful. It was highly demanding to provide nursing care following the surge in admission rates and the need to accommodate constant changes and new protocols in the mitigation and management of the crisis (Sperling, 2021). With the limited resources in health facilities coupled with the need to go for quarantine, the provision of nursing care was highly challenging, hence inducing a stream of varied thoughts and anxiety. Following such experiences, I was subjected to intense pressure regarding ethical issues about health care provision. With the awareness of the lack of professional resources in the health facility and the surge in the admission of patients with COVID-19 symptoms, exacerbation of ethical tension was inevitable.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, ethical and moral issues were significantly affected. The pandemic negatively affected my ethical values and beliefs following the obligation to provide quality patient care and maintain appropriate patient relationships (Strier & Shdaimah, 2020). In some instances, I experienced ethical dilemmas in providing nursing care to patients with COVID-19 complications. With some older adults being unresponsive to respiratory support, I was tempted to wean them off the oxygen therapy and fix them for responsive young adults. In such instances, most weaned-off patients would succumb to breathing difficulties.

The packing of hospital beds to capacity was another issue culminating in ethical and moral tension. Having to decide where to admit and manage newly reported cases or which patients to discharge to isolation centers was challenging. Unfortunately, most patients had to share beds in pairs, contrary to professional and standard nursing practice guidelines (Patel & Metersky, 2021). My moral values and obligations to deliver quality, safe and standardized care were overwhelmed. As such, most of the patients ended up with increased hospital stays and recurrence of symptoms. In addition, this practice culminated in increased mortalities among COVID-19 patients while in the clinical settings.

The COVID-19 pandemic was overwhelmingly a demanding and challenging phenomenon among health care providers. As such, it yielded a plethora of mixed reactions and emotions to nurses, notably those in critical care settings. Unfavorable working environments further demotivated the health care providers, negatively impacting my personal beliefs and values. The experiences and events that transpired in the clinical settings during the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated some shift from professional and standardized health care providers to manage the crisis effectively. 

References

Patel, K. M., & Metersky, K. (2021). Reflective practice in nursing: A concept analysis. International Journal of Nursing Knowledge.  https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/2047-3095.12350 (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.) .

Sperling, D. (2021). Ethical dilemmas, perceived risk, and motivation among nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nursing Ethics, 28(1), 9-22.  https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0969733020956376 (Links to an external site.)

Strier, R., & Shdaimah, C. (2020). ‘The Faintest Stirring of Hope Became Possible’: Pandemic Postscript. Ethics and Social Welfare, 14(3), 242-247.  https://doi.org/10.1080/17496535.2020.1798603

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COVID-19 & Personal Beliefs/Values

The COVID pandemic has had a tremendous effect on the worldview surrounding my current nursing work. While many of the realizations focus on the imperativeness of nursing it also exposed areas that could need improvement in the future. Therefore, the values I had placed before are now replaced by new ones and new avenues for progression are made clear. In this paper I will be exploring how COVID-19 influenced my values and personal beliefs while offering an example.

Personal Beliefs/Values

Due to the pandemic, more awareness is being brought to the crucial work that is done by nurses. This has highlighted certain aspects of the work we do as nurses and how we could further shape the way our care is delivered. While new information was being given surrounding the possible medical consequences of having COVID, I found a new-found value in relying on evidence-based information. Throughout this period, it was easy to fall into the pit of misinformation. However, we as nurses must use our critical thinking and examine the evidence to then apply it in our work. This would result in an inability to comprehend “the risk of being infected.” (Fernandez et al, 2020) Our patients rely on us to provide them with up-to-date information that is based on clinical evidence. This is how we can truly provide the highest standard of patient care. This newfound belief and important value have only been more pronounced ever since COVID had started. Importance can be greater appreciated when recognizing the need of the nursing staff to “meet the exponential increase” (Smith et al, 2022) laid by COVID.

Example

             The case for establishing a strong reliance on evidence-based practice is most notable when having experience seeing the problem. Multiple instances at work I have seen my coworkers engaging in passing information that is not academically accurate. I had a fellow RN who could not answer COVID questions when asked of how the virus works within the body. Because of these moments I make sure to keep up to date with the latest from the CDC and academic sources.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the pandemic has opened my eyes to what values should be enhanced and where beliefs should be derived from. The need for nurses to educate themselves when a global disaster has been highlighted by countless instances where critical thinking is needed. Data that can be verified clinically is vital to continuing to provide better patient care and lead to better patient outcomes.

References

Fernandez, R., Lord, H., Halcomb, E., Moxham, L., Middleton, R., Alananzeh, I., & Ellwood, L. (2020). Implications for COVID-19: A systematic review of nurses' experiences of working in acute care hospital settings during a respiratory pandemic. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 111, 103637.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2020.103637 (Links to an external site.)

Smith, S. J., & Farra, S. L. (2022). The impact of covid-19 on the regulation of nursing practice and education. Teaching and Learning in Nursing: Official Journal of the National Organization for Associate Degree Nursing, 17(3), 302–305.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teln.2022.01.004

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