Emergency Department Well-being Initiatives During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An After-action Review

Sara R Zaidi; Vineet K Sharma; Shiu-Lin Tsai; Stefan Flores; Penelope C Lema; Jenny Castillo

doi:10.1002/aet2.10490

Emergency Department Well-being Initiatives During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An After-action Review

AEM Educ Train. 2020 Jul 1;4(4):411-414. doi: 10.1002/aet2.10490. eCollection 2020 Oct.

Authors

Sara R Zaidi^{1

2}, Vineet K Sharma^{1

2}, Shiu-Lin Tsai¹, Stefan Flores¹, Penelope C Lema¹, Jenny Castillo¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Emergency Medicine New York Presbyterian-Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons New York NY USA.
² Department of Emergency Medicine New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medicine New York NY USA.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the well-being of our health care professionals, particularly frontline providers in the emergency department (ED). Our ED, located in New York City, was severely affected, exposing the staff to a combination of unique stressors. Our ED Wellness Committee responded by implementing various initiatives focusing on the physical, mental, and social needs of our providers to support them through this difficult time. The initiatives we describe offer a framework that may help other departments understand the importance of provider well-being during a pandemic.