IN THEIR OWN WORDS
By Colleen Donnelly
Illustration: Jasu Hu
To date, more than 20 clinical papers and presentations have come out of the CHAMPS study, adding to the growing body of research looking at the experiences and long-term effects of COVID-19 on health care workers and first responders.
One of the most moving publications focused on vulnerability, loss and coping experiences of front-line workers during the pandemic. Authored by 10 Villanova Nursing professors, the paper appeared in a 2022 issue of the International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being.
It includes a number of firsthand accounts from health care professionals, first responders and essential personnel in health care facilities who worked with individuals with COVID-19. The bulk of respondents were nursing staff, but also included police officers, X-ray technicians, physical therapists and EMTs.
Each of these participants responded to the main CHAMPS survey and indicated they would be willing to be contacted for a follow-up interview to talk about their experiences. “In some cases, the interviews would go on for an hour,” says lead author Suzanne C. Smeltzer, EdD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, professor emerita of Nursing Research. “This was early on in the pandemic, and so people were reeling from what was going on around them.”
“People were reeling from what was going on around them.”
Suzanne C. Smeltzer, EdD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, professor emerita of Nursing Research
POLICE OFFICER
“What if I get this, I’m not symptomatic and I take it home to my family?”
RADIOGRAPHER
"The pandemic has really turned my world upside down. For months I did not hug my children. My neighbor across the street would not let her kids come near my kids because of my occupation."
NURSE MANAGER
“I walked into work on Monday morning, and I was told, ‘You have just inherited an adult COVID unit. You have two hours to open it.’ My unit had 34 beds and it was at full capacity within an hour and 12 minutes.”
NURSE
“The resilience of the nurses coming back every day, not knowing what they’re going to be confronted with … is how we bonded with each other on the unit to help each other out.”
NURSE
“Just coming home was exhausting. You have done your 12 or 13 hours, and now you come home and it takes another 45 minutes or so to get everything off and clean.”
NURSE PRACTIONER
“I just asked God, ‘Did I say what you needed me to say? … Did I instill the hope and … the caring that I feel is vital to many of these patients?’”
RETURN TO THE MAIN STORY
Villanova’s COVID-19 Caring About Health for All Study gives voice to the lasting impacts of the pandemic on essential workers