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Literature Review

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Literature Review
A. INTRODUCTION
1. Topics and Chapter
This chapter contains the reviewed literature, information, and data from other
researchers relating to the challenges, opportunities, and psychological well-being of medical
practitioners working on the front line during the Covid-19 pandemic. Covid 19 disorder has
triggered enormous burdens where almost everyone globally has been affected. The disorder's
effects have resulted in high rates of infections hence loss of life, financial hardships on people,
known and unknown stress-related conditions on affected persons, and endless uncertainties that
are contributed by the rise of the disorder.
A. Challenges Faced by Health Workers and the State of their Psychological Wellbeing
Many nations are in great tension regarding the future unknown uncertainties attributed to
the disorder. The disorders' effects are profound across all spectrums of life, and the health
workers have not been spared in the phenomenon (Kock et al., 2020). Despite being on the fore
front to overcoming and relenting the impacts of the disease, they are also negatively affected by
the disease (Shreffler et al., 2020). They face challenges while treating patients, controlling the
spread of the disease, reducing infections and formulating short and long-term plans on
controlling the disease (Shreffler et al., 2020; Franc-Guimond & Hogues, 2021). These
challenges when addressed together with their families' pressures, they are subjected to
unbearable psychological pressure. Therefore, their overall wellness has received heightened

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awareness though researchers have suggested that health workers have reported high rates of
burnout, psychological stress, and suicide on the extreme.
Healthcare workers were also affected by the disease personally since some of them
contracted the disease. This contributed to impairing their working conditions and the working
environment. Many workers had been disrupted from their regular working stations since they
had been asked to work from their places of work and redeployed to high-risk areas for working
in the front line (Kock et al., 2020; Collantoni et al., 2021). The disorder progressed to threaten
mortality to both the public and the practitioners. As the World Health Organization avowed the
Covid 19 effect as a global pandemic, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
stated that by May 2020, the disorder had already managed to take the lives of more than 100
000 people in the USA (Coto et al., 2020). According to Christina Jewett and colleagues (2020)
contributing to the guardian, by June, about 600 heath workers had succumbed to the threats of
Covid 19. They further established that the disorder would continue to constrict the health
workers' mortality rate at a high level if appropriate action would not be applied effectively
(Malik et al., 2021). The physician's and practitioners' psychological functioning were also
affected. Some mechanisms applied in controlling the disorder would lead to psychological
disorders. These challenges are closely correlated to a lack of sufficient resources and a heavy
workload (Rodríguez & Sánchez, 2020; Malik et al., 2021).
B. How the Pandemic affected Health Workers Opportunities
Similarly, the pandemic also allowed the practitioners to deepen their scope of care in the
medical practicum. The disorder altered the scope of care in which practitioners were forced to
integrate medical care with technological advancement. Some practices such as telehealth were
effectively adopted and brought into the context of healthcare (World Health Organization,

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2020). Due to the global disruption of services, new mechanisms to resolving the manifesting
challenges were brought to the practice. Practitioners in the realm of communicable diseases
have also presented the opportunity to develop their skills since the majority were urged to focus
their attention on tackling the virus and curb its spread (World Health Organization, 2020). The
opportunity to interact with new or another disorder in the scope of service was among the
assurances that the practitioner's skills would be sharpened (World Health Organization, 2020).
For instance, some practitioners in the treatments and control of some chronic conditions showed
interest in researching mechanisms to tackle the covid 19 disease. Staffs were reassigned, and
screening of these diseases was postponed to allow for the practice (World Health Organization,
2020).
C. Challenges and Opportunities faced by the Medical Business due to the Upsurge of
the Pandemic
The healthcare business was also not spared the pressure of the pandemic. The industry faced
significant challenges that were prevalent to the healthcare professions and the whole industry at
large. The pandemic kicked and spread with vigor, causing high pressure in the healthcare
industry since health facilities had to accommodate the intake of increased numbers of patients
during the particular time (McKinsey & Company, 2020). Every business aims to maximize
profits if the company is working in its state of equilibrium where the demand equates to the
supply (McKinsey & Company, 2020). However, this was never the case in the healthcare
industry since the hospitals admitted high volumes of patients, causing an excessive pull in
healthcare demand that did not equate to the available labor force (McKinsey & Company,
2020).

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The numbers of practicing professionals were incomparable when correlated to the volume of
patients that sook for medical attention, thereby causing strain to the healthcare system
(McKinsey & Company, 2020). Healthcare facilities were also suffering from limitations of
limited healthcare resources such as beds, wards, and other paramount equipment that are
deemed essential in controlling the spread of the disease (McKinsey & Company, 2020).
Moreover, the facilities were unable to provide their health workers with ample protective gear
demanded in the testing and treatment process (Raimi et al., 2021). The upward pull had adverse
effects on healthcare stakeholders entrusted with the mandates of supplying the health facilities
with equipment since they would not be in positions to meet the high demand of making the
equipment’s level up the demand (McKinsey & Company, 2020). The rising demand for
healthcare overwhelmed the facilities since more than 11 states had their hospital admission
facilities occupied by 80%, and the intensive care unit amenities were fully occupied (McKinsey
& Company, 2020). Therefore, some healthcare facilities were cornered, limiting the intake of
more patients hence surrendering some to the course of nature.
Some of the healthcare disparities that the healthcare system was initially experiencing have
been reduced to a standstill by the Covid 19 pandemic. The majority of healthcare professionals
have been subjected to undefined pressure to develop more vaccines, which will be significant in
relenting the threats of the pandemic (McKinsey & Company, 2020). The heterogeneous
standards that the healthcare system had established before the pandemic scaled high are now
desperate due to the varieties of quarantine measures employed by the different governments.
These issues cornered governments and health organizations to commit to research and ascertain
if their efforts will bore fruits in the fights against comorbidity (McKinsey & Company, 2020).
2. Methods of Literature Review

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The study shall use a systematic literature review approach while assessing the literature in
the study. The system shall use rigorous and well-defined approaches. The approach used is
comprehensive, where it explores all the significant and paramount factors attributed to the
study. The study shall also use descriptive methods in developing the literature. Surveys and
research shall be conducted on primary and secondary data sources, where observation and
interview methods shall be the most appropriate primary approaches in data collection (Smith &
Shaw, 2019). Interviews shall be used as a survey type of research aimed at collecting opinions
from practitioners and the medical business staff. Their voiced opinions in the study are
significant for the study will be composed of firsthand information from the practitioners. Due to
the prevalent threat of the disease, questionnaires and other methodologies shall not be applied in
the research to help to curb the spread of Covid 19 (Smith & Shaw, 2019). Secondary data will
be sourced from other studies that were prior done by other scholars. Critiques and facts shall be
interchangeably used in the context sourced from online sources, and they shall span not beyond
30 years from the present date (Reijers et al., 2017). The population to be assessed in the
approach is encompassed by all demographic factors since the study will borrow insights from
children, youths, and the old population. That is, the study shall assess how medical practitioners
in the forefront of controlling the threats of the Covid 19 pandemic were affected by the
interactions with populations from this spectrum of demographic composition (Reijers et al.,
2017). The study shall assess:
i.

The challenges faced by medical practitioners who are in the frontline to curb the threats
of covid 19 pandemic.

ii.

The opportunities that presented to the medical practitioners and the medical business
during the covid 19 pandemic.

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iii.

The challenges the medical business encountered during the covid pandemic.

iv.

The challenges that the medical system faced and the advancements that the system
deems significant.

v.

The government's contribution towards alienating the threats of comorbidity.
B. DESCRIPTION AND CRITIQUE OF THE SCHOLARLY LITERATURE
1. Theoretical Literature Review
The section of the paper shall detail the different approaches borrowed to shed light on

the existing literature and information related to the challenges, opportunities, and psychological
well-being of the practitioners and physicians while at the lead of the fight against the Covid 19
pandemic. A theory is a set of ideas or criteria used to elaborate a concept, particularly based on
the general principles independent of the phenomenon discussed. These theories include:
a) Job Enrichment Versus Job Demands Lens on Nurse Practitioners and
Physician Assistants Psychological States
Exploratory the work-related psychological state of the physician's assistants and nurse
practitioners is a significant aspect when considering their increased roles and duties during the
Covid 19 pandemic. Practitioners and assistant physicians' demands in the United States of
America's health system rise. Therefore, their working conditions and occupations should be
addressed with a high degree of seriousness (Hoff et al., 2017). Their roles are expanding despite
the sharp constriction in their task force, which has experienced a sharp decline. Hence there is
pressure to broaden the access to care and shift the facilities to value-based care, which is less
expensive in the healthcare delivery (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2017).

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Therefore, it is paramount to consider the case of health workers involved in more complex
tasks and expand their roles as a case of worker upskilling. The phenomenon of upskilling lens
impacts the health workers' psychological states. For example, job satisfaction may be positively
or negatively affected when a person's nature of work is altered (Hoff et al., 2017). This
practicum supports the notion that nurse practitioners and assistant physicians experience role
expansion and more complicated works done in ways that favor their jobs. This leads to higher
job satisfaction, low levels of burnout, work-related stress, and a longer tenure in particular jobs
(Hoff et al., 2017). This is not the case with most medical workers during the period since they
were subjected to unbearable pressure due to the resurgence of high demand where patients
flocked the health care facilities. For instance, in the United States, healthcare facilities were
under high pressure, for the disorder did easily spread upon the vast population as it is an
infectious disease.
V.A. lambert and lambert (2001) also contributed to the study by suggesting that the high job
pressure that results from job expansion is sometimes accompanied by decreased levels of
internal motivation around their jobs (Torrieri, 2013). This turnaround of events contributes to
adverse events where workers may result to frustrations since they are not empowered from their
working environments. Later, this experience is negative, causing low job satisfaction, high
burnout levels, and more significant role strain (V.A. lambert and lambert, 2001). V.A. lambert
and lambert's suggestions manifested during the Covid 19 pandemic, where most medical
practitioners were subject to burnouts, low motivations, and excessive strain in their workloads.
This experience from literature advocates that burnout, inability to meet satisfaction, turnover,
and stress emanating from work-related stress are among the adverse effects that affect
practitioners when they are subjected to extra work (V.A. lambert and lambert, 2001).

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The study by Hoff and colleagues 2017 is of significance to the literature since it has helped
in elaborating the hardships nurse practitioners and physicians’ assistants face when they are
subjected to more complex duties and an expansion in their roles. The study allows a comparison
across the various spectrums of employment where patterns of psychological states are
adherently studies and the differences noted. The research on burnouts, stress, need to rest, and
the practitioner’s satisfaction assessment is significant dine it has shown some paramount aspects
of management and control that should be leniently employed to avoid overwhelming the
workers (Hoff et al., 2017). Their analysis is significant since it has also helped ascertain the
areas which researchers should focus on to broaden the spectrum of education.
b) The Transactional Model or the Lazarus Theory of stress
The transactional model of stress and coping was a theory developed by Lazarus and
Folkman in 1987, aiming to elaborate further how people manage and control the adverse effects
of stress (Echemendia et al., 2019; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). As they were deve...