Realities and Challenges of Healthcare Workers in Kosovo during COVID-19: An Overview in Healthcare Workers

Abstract

Introduction: Healthcare workers across the world have been raised to the demands of treating COVID-19 patients, potentially at significant cost to their own health and wellbeing. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an increasing of challenges for healthcare professionals not only in Kosovo but globally. However, the psychological impact and change behavior, of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, among healthcare workers, are still unknown. Aim: The purpose of this paper is to know the reality and challenges of healthcare workers in Kosovo during the current COVID-19 outbreak. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional, online survey which was conducted from 15 March 2020 to 30 July 2020 on 309 healthcare workers at three hospitals in Kosovo. An online survey questionnaire was used to collect data on participants’ characteristics, questions about gel hand sanitizer, disposable gloves, masks, facial protective shields, including questions such as: Do they have any chronic disease? Do they have fear from infection? Were they getting information about COVID-19? Do they have a stress during their work? Do they carry about public health measures and policies? The study protocol was approved by the ethical commission of our university. Findings: A total of 309 healthcare workers and medical practices completed the online survey. Most participants were female (n = 233; 75.4%), and live in city (n = 174; 56.3%). Based on their income (n = 250; 80.9%), by having a middle income and (n = 44; 14.2%) low income. Regarding provide services to people with COVID-19, 69.3% of participants were directly with infected patients, and during this time those who were worried to get infected with coronavirus were 31.4%, who said that they were afraid of becoming infected. The frustration was that if they become infected, the possibility of transmitting the virus to other family members will increase, where 35% stated that they are very scared and extremely scared 21.4%. Conclusion: Our study highlighted the importance of taking into consideration the experiences and concerns on front-line staff during pandemic. Factors such as older age, being female, chronic diseases and trainings may protect healthcare workers from fear during pandemic.