Factors affecting the resilience of hospital medical staff during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, most hospitals have faced a heavy load of pa-tients. In this situation, it is very important to consider the resilience and endurance of medical staff, as well as to identify and investi-gate the relevant factors which can increase their resilience.Objectives. The aim of this study was to identify the factors affecting the resilience of hospital medical staff during the COVID-19 pan-demic.Material and methods. The present study is a qualitative study using a semi-structured interview. Participants included doctors, nurs-es, clinicians and managers working in tertiary referral hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews were conducted as needed until data saturation was reached using the purposive sampling method. A total number of 20 people, including 6 physicians, 2 hospital managers, 7 nurses, 1 radiologist, 3 laboratory technicians and 1 clinical psychologist, were interviewed in 7 educational hospitals of the Kerman Province.Results. After data analysis and coding, 127 initial codes were identified. By reviewing the codes, 127 initial codes were merged by the research team, and 23 codes in 6 main categories, including Personal Factors (7 codes), Family-Related Factors (2 codes), Community -Related Factors (2 codes), Virus-Related Factors (2 codes), Organisational Factors (7 codes) and Economical Factors (3 codes) were extracted.Conclusions. Paying attention to the identified factors on the maintenance of medical human resources in the form of the "Surge Capacity Programme" can increase the resilience of medical staff. Such measures pave the way for a better response to other threats similar to the COVID-19 pandemic.