A critical-incident stress debriefing program for hospital-based health care personnel

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Article PDF first page preview. Issue Section:. These may influence the way emergency clinicians experienced our debriefings. Finally, our methodology did not allow us to investigate why few resident physicians volunteered to participate in our debriefings.

Interventions implemented by the residency before the pandemic to support resident well-being, such as dedicated resident-only debriefing sessions during residency conference and a peer mentorship program, may have been effective and residents therefore did not elect to participate in our intervention. Emergency clinicians at our hospital reported that a video-based debriefing program was an acceptable and valuable intervention for supporting their emotional well-being during the initial phase of the coronavirus pandemic.

The program provided participants with a platform to support each other and maintain a sense of community and connection despite social distancing. EDs should consider implementing a similar program to safeguard the emotional well-being of its clinician workforce as we move into subsequent phases of the pandemic.

Disclaimer: Due to the rapidly evolving nature of this outbreak, and in the interests of rapid dissemination of reliable, actionable information, this paper went through expedited peer review. Additionally, information should be considered current only at the time of publication and may evolve as the science develops.

Conflicts of Interest : By the West JEM article submission agreement, all authors are required to disclose all affiliations, funding sources and financial or management relationships that could be perceived as potential sources of bias.

No author has professional or financial relationships with any companies that are relevant to this study. There are no conflicts of interest or sources of funding to declare. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. West J Emerg Med. Published online Sep Derek L. Monette , MD, Wendy L. Brown , MD, Ali S. Takayesu , MD, MS. Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer.

Corresponding author. Email: gro. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Associated Data Supplementary Materials wjems Abstract Introduction Emergency clinicians on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic experience a range of emotions including anxiety, fear, and grief. Methods ED attending physicians, resident physicians, and non-physician practitioners NPP at our quaternary-care academic medical center were invited to participate in role-based, weekly one-hour facilitated debriefings using Zoom.

Results We completed 18 debriefings with 68 unique participants 29 attending physicians, 6 resident physicians, and 33 NPPs. Conclusion Emergency clinicians participating in a video-based debriefing program during the coronavirus pandemic found it to be an acceptable and useful approach to support emotional well-being.

Debriefing Structure Two ED attendings with experience in clinical debriefing, simulation, and clinician wellness co-facilitated each session. Participants were asked to log in from a non-clinical environment, use video and headphones, and attest to confidentiality of participation at the start of each session, which were divided into three phases Appendix A : Opening 5 minutes : The facilitators outline the objectives, describe a confidentiality contract, and discuss a plan for maintaining a psychologically safe environment.

Survey Design and Analysis An anonymous and voluntary point survey was distributed electronically to all participants at the end of the pilot Appendix B. Open in a separate window. Figure 1. Figure 2. Supplementary Information Click here to view. Click here to view. Long-term psychological and occupational effects of providing hospital healthcare during SARS outbreak. Emerg Infect Dis. Factors associated with mental health outcomes among health care workers exposed to coronavirus disease Survey of stress reactions among health care workers involved with the SARS outbreak.

Psychiatr Serv. Timely mental health care for the novel coronavirus outbreak is urgently needed. Lancet Psychiatry. Understanding and addressing sources of anxiety among health care professionals during the COVID pandemic.

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Group critical incident stress debriefing with emergency services personnel: a randomized controlled trial.