Abstract
Background:
The COVID-19 pandemic created massive amounts of stress for frontline healthcare providers. The purpose of this study was to examine perspectives of respiratory therapists, student respiratory therapists, and respiratory therapy managers on trust in leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States’ healthcare and government systems were not prepared for burden caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. High levels of prolonged stress along with significant amounts of death can cause burnout and moral injury for frontline healthcare providers. Healthcare leaders must provide effective communication, support, and proper amounts of personal protective equipment to help diminish the effects of burnout and moral injury.
Methods:
This study used Q-methodology, which is a mixed-methods research design. The study included 203 staff respiratory therapists, student respiratory therapists, and respiratory therapy managers in the state of Ohio who worked the frontlines, or managed respiratory therapists working the frontlines, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Results:
Five distinct groups emerged from perspectives of participants: I’ll be There for You, Won’t You Please, Please Help Me?, I’ll Get You There, What’s Going On?, and Show Must Go On. The quality of the leader has profound effect on participants’ perspective of how their institution handled the COVID-19 pandemic. The more daily contact and communication with their leaders, the less guilt the participants felt during the COVID-19 pandemic. Harold Kelley’s covariation model conceptualizes the entity and circumstance of the COVID-19 pandemic by sharing perceptions of frontline respiratory therapists.
Conclusions:
Though the United States government considers the COVID-19 pandemic over, frontline respiratory therapists will endure the effects of the COVID-19 virus for years to come.
Q-sort grid
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