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How Singapore Explores All Options to Help Nurses During The Covid-19 Pandemic

Nurse wearing faceshield looking at the camera

Nurses were more anxious, had fewer flow moments, and were less satisfied with their work, life, work performance, and well-being during the epidemic than they were before it. Furthermore, nurses received greater praise from society but received less from their patients. Humor and the perception of societal and patient appreciation were found to be effective buffers against unfavorable pandemic effects.

Healthcare personnel gets free access to Intellect.
Important clinical and policy interventions are needed to help health care workers while the pandemic persists. Intellect, a Singapore-based mental health platform, is offering free three-month premium subscriptions to healthcare workers in order to assist them to maintain their mental health. The self-care app startup understands how critical it is to manage the psychological stress of frontline health workers who have been overworked throughout the COVID-19 outbreak.

While maintaining physical health is more important for healthcare personnel in order to deliver health services to individuals during the pandemic, managing their mental health has become crucial.

Online Assessment Tools
Online self-assessment tools and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, such as Wysa and BotMD, have been introduced by public healthcare institutions (PHIs). This encourages employees to seek help early and protects their mental health from deteriorating further. Public healthcare employees can use whistle-blowing methods including in-house or third-party feedback channels to express their concerns about their colleagues' or their own mental health and safety.

There are resources available to employees who need a sympathetic ear or professional counseling. All staff groups have access to peer-support networks, such as department well-being advocates. There are professional counseling services and helplines available, some of which have extended hours.
The Ministry of Health will continue to collaborate with PHIs to promote mental health, support mental wellness initiatives, and urge healthcare workers to seek treatment.

Help from the public and private sectors
The Singapore Armed Forces, the public sector, and the private sector, including the Public Health Preparedness Clinics, have been mobilized by the Ministry of Health (MOH) to aid in the fight against the pandemic and share the workload of healthcare workers. Some have been allocated to support care responsibilities, where their nursing skills are put to good use in a variety of clinical tasks and assisting patients with daily activities. Others have received a crash education in vaccination and swab testing operations, as well as specialized positions.

Opening of professional counseling 
Public healthcare professionals in the healthcare clusters have access to professional counseling services, including counseling clinics and helplines, as well as peer support systems and networks. Approximately 330 times such services were employed in 2019. In 2020, this number is predicted to climb to around 890, with 1,080 in 2021.

The rising usage of existing support measures suggests that healthcare workers' mental health needs to be adequately supported. For example, healthcare clusters have stepped up their efforts by establishing well-being offices, and staff well-being committees, and designing and implementing new and enhanced mental wellness measures for their workers.

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Photo Source: https://www.vecteezy.com/photo/4619575-nurse-looking-at-camera
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