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The impact of COVID‐19 on the hospice and palliative care workforce
Author(s) -
Kates Jeannette,
Gerolamo Angela,
PogorzelskaMaziarz Monika
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
public health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.471
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1525-1446
pISSN - 0737-1209
DOI - 10.1111/phn.12827
Subject(s) - workforce , palliative care , pandemic , agency (philosophy) , nursing , public health , medicine , family medicine , health care , social distance , covid-19 , sociology , political science , disease , social science , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law
Objective To understand the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the hospice and palliative workforce and service delivery. Design and sample This was a cross‐sectional survey of 36 hospice and palliative care workforce members representing all United States geographic regions. Results Most respondents (70%) reported an increase in specific palliative care services as a result of the pandemic. Two thirds (78%) of respondents reported their agency has cared for confirmed COVID‐19 patients. Only half reported the agency had access to laboratory facilities for surveillance and detection of outbreaks in both patients and staff (58%) and that the agency could test patients and providers for COVID‐19 (55%). Qualitative comments described the impact of the pandemic and resulting social distancing measures on the emotional well‐being of patients, families, and staff. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the COVID‐19 pandemic has strained the palliative and hospice care workforce as it provides increased services at an unprecedented rate to patients and families. The implications of these findings are important for public health nurses who are skilled in disaster management and quickly responding to emergencies. The expertise of public health nurses can be leveraged to support palliative care agencies as they strive to manage the pandemic in the communities they serve.