Our Frontline Warriors are under serious pressure and their composure is imperative but is it possible??

COVID19 has frazzled everyone either by sitting at home or running around working for the betterment of this situation.

Doctors and nurses are the frontline warriors who have been over-burdened by the endless number of new people being infected by the virus and then gradually increasing the death rate too.

Doctors and nurses are available throughout and are working ceaselessly for weeks together, treating the coronavirus infected patients day in and out. They are providing every possible help, every mentioned treatment to the patients so that they recover as early as possible. People are calling the doctors lifesavers and there are people who are also savagely attacking them for not being able to save their loved one.

But in this pandemic, we often overlook an important aspect of the doctor’s task. It is universally accepted that the doctors are the frontline warriors but besides providing healthcare services the Doctor in charge also has to be an excellent team manager and motivator at this hour. The doctor’s guidelines, temper, knowledge, mood is what matters and reflects the most in his whole unit. If the doctor wants to save people and cure them earlier he needs to have a stronghold over his team and at the same time be benevolent towards his team as there are so many health care personnel with him, each undergoing their own personal as well as professional problems.

Unlike normal situations, the doctor cannot afford to have disgruntled people, angry workers, or colleagues and nurses who compromise on their mental and physical health. It is important for the doctor to be patient yet firmly kind while interacting with the team. Doctors even need to notice the changes in behaviours of the unit to try and understand the possibility of future problems that may arise in the internal hospital organization.

Thus, the doctor has to worry about his own personal problems while tackling the ever-increasing cases and attending to patients along with attending to the needs and requirements of his own team and their problems. Due to the ceaseless working hours, the health care unit might be facing exhaustive cycles. The uncertainty of the situation and the lack of equipment and necessary gears the feelings of anxiety might creep into the team members.

The facts of long working hours and being cut off from their family for uncertain time periods might make them experience loneliness even when they are working in the groups together. Their apprehension for their own self, their health and the possibility of them being susceptible to the virus would perturb their concern for the family.

Here are a few ways for the doctors to deal with these negative emotions of team members:

- Switch the workload: It is always better to make a certain individual think of something else when monotony kicks in a particular task. Hence, switching workload or departments for a brief moment would be helpful in the long run.

- Be a good listener: Just the way a psychologist might to with the patients, it is important for the doctor to lend the right ear to hear the team out whenever possible. This way, it is easier for the team member to feel less burdened and worried about the crucial situations.

- Be the solution provider: It is obvious for a doctor to be a solution provider but it means, even more, when they offer rational solutions to the teams whenever in need. The solutions either personal or professional need to be away from any kind of biases as that will promote the team members to come and discuss their problems with the leaders without any inhibitions.

- Loosen up the pressure: Smallest things like sharing a quick informal talk over a coffee or discussing the positive responses of a serious case with everyone or checking whether everyone has had a meal are the tiniest things that count in easing up the pressure that everyone in the hospital is going through. These light moments might help the workers to distract themselves or look towards a positive ray of hope in the impossible times.