Fundamentals of Mental Health

Fundamentals of Mental Health

When and how we cannot bear it anymore? A thematic synthesis of global qualitative studies about psychological experiences of the healthcare staff during the COVID-19 pandemic

Document Type : Review Article

Authors
Zahra Asgari 1
Azam Naghavi 2
Amir Ghamarani 3
1 Ph.D. student, Department of Counseling, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Isfahan, Iran.
2 Associate professor, Department of Counseling, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Isfahan, Iran.
3 Assistant professor, Department of Psychology and Education of Children with Special Needs, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Isfahan, Iran.
10.22038/jfmh.2022.20581
Abstract
Introduction: This study aimed to use the thematic synthesis method to review qualitative research about the psychological experiences of healthcare staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Materials and Methods: Out of 218 English articles that are found in PsycINFO, Web of Science, Medline, and Google Scholar databases from 2019 to 2021, 22 articles met the inclusion criteria. The process of thematic synthesis was performed based on Thomas and Harden's analysis method in three stages open coding, organizing codes into common categories, and finally creating the main themes.
 
Results: After analyzing the results, five main themes were extracted including compassion fatigue, factors affecting compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, factors affecting compassion satisfaction, and strategic recommendations.
 
Conclusion: According to the findings, it can be concluded that the healthcare staff experienced both compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Compassion fatigue and satisfaction can affect the psychological state of the healthcare staff as well as the quality of care they provide. The underlying factors of both concepts are discussed and some recommendations are provided.
Keywords
Compassion fatigue
COVID-19
Empathy
Healthcare
Qualitative research
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Fundamentals of Mental Health
Volume 24, Issue 3
May and June 2022
Pages 137-143