Weekend Argus reports on a Tygerberg doctor who has opened up about the emotional exhaustion of facing more deaths in the past year than in her entire ten years as a doctor.
Dr Nontembiso Mhlana is among the front line workers bearing the brunt of Covid-19’s third wave while still dealing with prolonged stress and burnout of the first and second waves. Mhlana is a specialist physician in internal medicine at Tygerberg Hospital and has worked in the Covid-19 ward since the onset of the pandemic. The doctor said the disease has left her with little to no down time and that working in such a time had been emotionally exhausting for her. Mhlana sees a therapist privately every week to help her deal with the emotional effects of the pandemic. Healthcare workers at Tygerberg Hospital are also provided with group debriefing sessions where a psychiatrist and psychologist helps them process the high level of trauma they face. The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) has embarked on a study to evaluate how healthcare workers have managed their physical, emotional and mental well-being during the pandemic. The study will conclude on 31 August 2021. Sister Lee-Ann Nesizwa October, from Brackengate Hospital of Hope, described her experience as a nurse in a Covid-19 ward as deeply traumatic. “We have been exposed to a high death rate and have experienced intense suffering. Some of our colleagues have died, and the disease has awakened so many uncertainties for us,” she said. Paramedics are also going through a tough time. Lynold Griffiths is a paramedic with over 30 years of experience and is currently an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) station manager at the Khayelitsha Hospital. He said: “We are talking to each other every day and checking in and sometimes the best thing to do is to exercise at the end of the day... the main coping mechanism is to do something different after work”
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Keshia Africa & Nathan Adams at Weekend Argus
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