Nursing Times Covid-19: Are You OK? campaign
17th Nov 2020
The British Association of Critical Care Nurses (BACCN) supports the Nursing Times Covid-19: Are You OK? campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the potential long-term impact of working through the Covid-19 crisis on nurses’ mental health and wellbeing (and that of other staff and pre-registration students), and to ensure they have access to sources of formal and/or informal support.Read more about the campaign at Covid-19: Are You OK?
Critical care is an extremely stressful environment to work in, with around one third of critical care nurses (CCNs) experiencing severe burnout, and 86 percent experiencing one of its three classic symptoms of exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this situation. Increased patient to nurse ratios, the need to support and supervise non-critical care trained staff, long shifts in PPE, patient distress, rising death rates, and personal/family infection has all increased the intense emotional stress of CCNs.
It is absolutely imperative that we identify psychological distress early, avoid harm where possible and support staff wellbeing as a key priority. We are delighted to be part of the Covid-19:are you OK campaign raising awareness of this significant issue facing the profession