It’s full-blown trauma.

HEALTHCARE

Excerpt from Calgary Herald article, Traumatized nurses fighting to get mental health treatment amid fourth wave

Dr. Angela Grace, who has a PhD in psychology and runs a private practice in Calgary, said about 50 per cent of her patients are front-line health-care workers.

Burnout experienced by patients earlier in the year has now escalated into “significant trauma,” she said.

“Now it’s, ‘I can’t function. I get up in the morning, I get in my car to go to work at the hospital. I had a complete and utter panic attack, I’m shaking and crying. I can’t see. I know I shouldn’t be driving. How am I supposed to treat patients?’ Now, it’s full-blown trauma.”!

One of her patients told her she was having suicidal thoughts. Another is experiencing extreme compassion fatigue. Calls from shaking and crying patients are frequent, she said.

“There’s the family and mental health plans, but they’re not sufficient. This is not going to be resolved by a bubble bath and a cup of tea … this is going to impact our front-line workers or health-care providers for years to come.”

Left untreated, people with PTSD go into “autopilot,” Grace explained. In a hospital setting, this can result in unintentional, dire mistakes.

According to a study by the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), researchers found fatigue-related impairments to be comparable to alcohol intoxicationimpairments.

“People are suffering and there’s a sense of powerlessness to do anything about it. We are turning into a sense of hopelessness,” Grace said.

With the province’s announcement of new COVID-19 health restrictions last Wednesday, she said she worries protests outside hospitals will only escalate.

“I am afraid that these protests at the hospital are going to get worse, like I am afraid they’re going to turn into violence now. And if they turn into violence, and a health-care worker gets hurt, they’re not going to get coverage.”