Series of Events that Occurred During SARS II Paper Example

Introduction

SARS II recurred on May 23 a week after WHO had declared Toronto free of local spread. Thereafter, a press release was released claiming that five people had already died as a result of SARS. Those that had visited St. John's Hospital between 9th May and 23rd May were ordered into quarantine (Naylor, 2003). New admissions were immediately closed at North York General Hospital except for SARS patients. SARS was reported to have spread in a wide area since it was not only within North York General Hospital but also to transferred clients from St. John's to Toronto General Site. Other reported hospitals were Scarborough Hospital, General Division and Geriatric Care of Baycrest Centre. Also, some hospitals especially those in GTA were asked to resume previously deserted infection-control procedures. Additionally, the medical staffs and administration staffs of North York General Hospital rallied and rapidly reformed their facility into a major center of SARS.

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Impact of SARS on Nurses

The epidemic of SARS, with its rapid spread and high mortality rate, had various impacts on nurses. Majorly, SARS had a psychological effect on nurses in that it made nurses fearful for their own and the health of their family (Khee et al., 2004). Most found caring for such patients being emotionally difficult for them and some found themselves in a state of shock and fear as they confronted the emerging issues. At the height of the crisis, disbelief and anger became the prevailing emotions while the feeling of acquiring and spreading the disease to others including their families haunted lots of them. Most of them unconsciously detached themselves from others especially their loved ones. They saw themselves as the source of infection and this consequently limited their emotions and concerns for each other.

Many nurses faced solemn personal conflicts that positioned them in a dilemma of choosing between their own instincts of self-preservation over their duty as healthcare providers. Although there were those that felt obligated in staying strong and confident in caring for the ill patients, there were those that felt stressed as they were concerned more on their families (Chan et al., 2005). Additionally, nurses experienced numerous discrepancies on parameters of workflow in that as more facts materialized on the SARS, rapid changes had to be made in healthcare policies. These new policies had to be adopted by everyone including that of wearing protective equipment all time. Furthermore, the critical state of the disease positioned most of the nurses in a state of deprivation as some became jobless due to shut down of most several Hospitals.

Not only were there negative impacts of SARS on nurses, but also positive aspects were reported. For instance, nurses were able to increase their awareness of infection control that significantly benefited the hospital community. SARS epidemics also improved the learning experience of nurses, increased their sense of togetherness and cooperation which essentially gave them an opportunity of building stronger relationships (Khee et al., 2004). The more nurses learned about the disease, the safer they felt and this enabled them to overcome any physical or psychological barriers that they had earlier. Moreover, SARS epidemics brought to them a sense of duty that made them be involved irrespective of pain and uncertainty. They saw themselves as soldiers who had to fight and not quit and this made them overcome any emotional obstacle especially any negative thoughts.

References

Chan, S. S., Leung, G. M., Tiwari, A. F., Salili, F., Leung, S. S., Wong, D. C., ... & Lam, T. H. (2005). The impact of work-related risk on nurses during the SARS outbreak in Hong Kong. Family & community health, 28(3), 274-287.

Khee, K. S., Lee, L. B., Chai, O. T., Loong, C. K., Ming, C. W., & Kheng, T. H. (2004). The psychological impact of SARS on health care providers. Critical Care and Shock, 100-106.

Naylor, C. D. (2003). Learning from SARS: renewal of public health in Canada: a report of the National Advisory Committee on SARS and Public Health. National Advisory Committee.