Negligence, trauma and nervous shock

A recent report by the Institute for Public Policy Research has highlighted the impact on nurses' mental health of the COVID-19 pandemic (Thomas and Quilter-Pinner, 2020). Nurses have faced increased stress, anxiety, bereavement and trauma, resulting in mental disorders including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Much of the psychological trauma has arisen from a negligent failure by health and social care bodies to provide adequate personal protective equipment (PPE). This has been exacerbated by poorly drafted guidelines on whether health and care workers should intervene without PPE, with different guidance from NHS bodies and trade bodies such as the British Medical Association (BMA) (2020) and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) (2020) adding to the confusion. Nurses have had to endure the trauma of having to provide urgent care to a COVID-19 patient and the shock of a patient dying because emergency intervention was delayed while PPE was sourced and put on.