The current COVID-19 pandemic caused significant distress on healthcare organizations and clinicians. The daily increase in hospitalizations and death resulted in more duties and longer working hours, causing physical and emotional exhaustion among medical personnel. Moreover, inadequate management led to breaching ethical norms in some hospitals. Therefore, this research paper aims to review the consequences of insomnia for the human organism and identify the prevalence of this problem among healthcare workers worldwide during the pandemic. Furthermore, this paper will discuss ethical values that were violated due to poor management in clinics and how they affected staff’s psychological well-being. The literature review was conducted using key phrases “sleep disturbance in healthcare workers,” “ethical issues in hospitals,” “age discrimination in hospitals,” and “pandemic.” The time range for the research articles was chosen to be within the last five years. The research showed that insomnia could cause metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and mood disorders. The prevalence of sleep disturbance among clinicians was found to be 40% during the pandemic. Nurses who talked about personal protective equipment deficiency on social media were dismissed from work. Moreover, the lack of knowledge about the novel coronavirus in the general public caused the stereotyping of infected hospital staff. These problems can be solved by improving the staff hiring process to reduce workload. Furthermore, hospital managers should develop a better support system for healthcare workers to increase productivity and diminish burnout.
The ongoing coronavirus crisis caused a tremendous disturbance to the world and the healthcare system. Inadequate preventive measures around the globe led to a surge in the number of infected people and deaths. Moreover, the high hospitalization rate and shortage of clinical staff resulted in longer shifts and sleep disturbance among medical personnel. Moreover, many ethical norms were violated by some hospital administrators. For instance, whistleblowing about insufficient personal protective equipment in healthcare facilities led to job loss for some clinicians. Furthermore, the public stereotyping of infected hospital staff resulted in emotional distress. The first objective of this paper is to determine the global insomnia prevalence among clinicians during the pandemic and review the health issues associated with disturbed circadian rhythm. The second objective is to discuss the ethical problems related to hospital staff management during the pandemic. It appears that poor hospital administration during the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the well-being and performance of medical personnel, which worsened patient outcomes.
To sum up, the COVID-19 pandemic imposed significant stress on healthcare institutions and medical personnel, causing a high prevalence of burnout and sleep disturbance among hospital staff worldwide. Sleep disturbance can have negative health consequences such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, obesity, depression, anxiety, and lack of concentration, which increases the risk of medical errors. Moreover, various regulatory issues arose during the pandemic, leading to the violation of the Code of Ethics. The possible solutions for these problems are hiring more hospital staff and providing support for employees during quarantine. Finally, the literature review showed that many countries responded inefficiently to the pandemic, which resulted in an enormous number of infected people and overloaded hospitals. The question for the classmates is whether it is appropriate to include more information on the role of governments in this pandemic’s unfavorable outcomes for healthcare workers and patients. Should the paper be only focused on the effect of inadequate staffing in adverse patient outcomes?