Watershed Event 1

Watershed Event

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Considering millions of illnesses and countless fatalities, the COVID-19 outbreak is

causing a massive health problem. The extreme severity and infectivity of the coronavirus

and the rapid development of symptoms are overloading intensive care and essential medical

professionals. Frontline workers face increasing levels of psychological peril, need

comprehensive, expert psychiatric diagnosis and assistance. To handle the mental health

treatment requirements of frontline healthcare experts dealing with COVID-19 clients, a

clinical method for treating psychopathology interventions must be established as soon as

possible. This epidemic is a watershed occurrence for hospitals and other medical services,

requiring a paradigm shift to better adapt for subsequent disease outbreaks. For a variety of

legitimate motives, people are typically apprehensive of change. This may cause them to

resist and resent it. Understanding how people feel due to such events is ultimately essential

in guiding them through it. In this passage, I have used Bridge's Transitional Model to enable

people in similar situations to accept and support the change that comes with it.

There are currently over 200 nations with documented instances. Recent statistics

suggest that contagious illness is spreading rapidly, particularly in Europe and the Us, Italy,

and Spain have lately recorded the most significant numbers of deaths and diseases amongst

the countries (WHO, 2020, np). COVID-19's extreme pathogenicity and virulence, and the

systematic development of acute interstitial pneumonia, mainly necessitates critical care

assistance, led to the increased burden. Being a nurse has enabled me to witness such and

obtained a better understanding from their side of view. This has an impact on the

physiological and emotional wellness of front health care professionals. Similarly, they are

frequently under stress regularly due to lengthy shift changes, a lack of protective equipment

(PPE), and the dread of becoming sick and transmitting to their family members as a

prospective infectious vehicle. Additionally, the death of so many clients, co-workers, or dear

ones causes tremendous psychological distress daily.

Newly hired health care professionals in the critical care unit sometimes lack

appropriate psychiatric orientation to handle demanding work settings, which could also lead

to highly challenging conditions resulting from emotion management and cognitive distress.

I'm a nurse, and I have experienced medical personnel who are often obliged to make life-or-

death decisions when allocating precious resources like oxygen therapy, like younger than

older, more robust against sicker, or vital employee versus jobless (Zaka et al., 2020, np). The

most typical stress-reduction methods may not have been viable in these vandalizing

situations due to the likelihood of healthcare workers becoming more psychologically

invested in the need to continue pushing.

Lately, publications in Europe have documented suicide instances among registered

nurses in ICU, which might be linked to the COVID-19 outbreak, highlighting the critical

necessity to engage in the psychological health of healthcare workers. Considering that

COVID-19 is already an excellently established epidemic and that there would be other

epidemics in the coming, nursing staff, physicians, and all frontline personnel require

immediate safety and psychosocial help. Considering so many documented cases, countless

deaths, and stress impacts, it has surpassed many other similar incidences, making it

significant documentation. These are just explanations on why the COVID 19 pandemics is

considered a watershed event.

William Bridges, a transformational specialist, developed the Transition Model,

which he presented in the 1991 book Managing Transitions. The model's principal merit is

that it emphasizes transitioning rather than change. The distinction separating these two is

minor but significant (Rosenbaum et al., 2018, np). People are subjected to change, even

whether they might not accord with it. Internal transition, comparatively, is what occurs in an

individual's thinking when they change. Progress can be made rapidly, but transition typically

takes longer. Whenever individuals get to change, they are in three phases of growth
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according to the paradigm. Termination, Loss, and Releasing are the three. The Neutrality

Zone is a place where nothing happens, and lastly, the Start of Something New. According to

Bridges, individuals will progress through every level at their speed.

The occurrence of the COVID 19 pandemic separated us from the normal, a fact that

can be referred to as disengagement in the Bridges’ Model of Transition. The recent past,

from my experience, has not been easy. There has been a significant transition and change

that has affected medical professionals and the community at large. Also, being a nurse who

has been able to work during this pandemic, I have been able to experience the change.

COVID's early appearances signaled the start of the shift- Ending, losing, and letting go.

Since I felt that I was being pressed to let go of stuff, the regular life I was used to, this period

was defined by the opposition and emotional turmoil. Every step toward a new, personalized,

psychological orientation begins with evaluating one's existing manner of acting or being and

the decision to let go; dismantling. Somethings no longer mattered- disenchantment- and we

had to let go (Miller & Julie, 2017, pg. 357). When someone terminates a portion of

themselves, it is common for them to feel bereft. It will have a psychological impact on the

person going through transition, as it was for me. It was never easy to get over things,

situations, and routines which have benefited us well.

It began with fear and denial of what might come. The quick onset, infection rate, and

mortality rate that prevailed due to the COVID 19 outbreak; drove in confusion, fear of loss,

and need for precaution in the healthcare system with a sudden requirement for healthcare

professionals to undergo immediate training for the preparations of handling any new COVID

19 case. COVID 19, then, was a new infection, and very little about its causes, infection

modes, and consequences, among others, were known. I felt overloaded with the onset of new

responsibilities of caring for the infected. There was frustration, disorientation in the
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operations due to the sudden change and uncertainty of what might come out of it. Although

we were unsure of what was coming, I was overwhelmed with a sense of loss and frustration.

I experienced the neutral zone when I felt uncertain about my carrier, my life, and

everything around me at that time. Sometimes I was so confused and could not handle my

patients well. I experienced resentment in terms of making change initiatives in my carrier.

This resulted from low morale in doing my work since the pandemic has led to the admission

of many patients, which is unusual. However, this did not lead to low productivity since I like

helping patients. Even though sometimes I was always caught up by anxiety about my role as

a nurse and how I was expected to help all those patients who have had signs of COVID-19.

The pressure was due to the number of patients I was expected to handle per shift; this

number was higher than those I had ever run before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This stage is manageable and but depends on how one handles him or herself. Some

people may experience a higher workload before getting used to the new ways of working,

which is a similar circumstance that I was in when the COVID-19 cases were so high.

However, on my side, I became more creative and innovative as I had to find ways on how I

helped individuals on ways that could help them recover quickly after being infected. To find

meaning and get past this stage, I went through steps. One of the doctors who work with me

in the same hospital; helped me through this neutral period. It was an uncomfortable time

since I seemed to be a little unsteady in most of the decisions I made, even though they did

not affect my performance at work. He always told me that it is okay to feel unsettled as a

nurse, but he also cautioned me that I should work excessively to control this to remain

productive in my work. Therefore, I met with him frequently to get his feedback on my

performance about change. I also set goals during this stage which motivated me in

improvement, which also gave the doctor a good perception of my change effort.
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The new beginning stage is the final stage of the transition is a period of acceptance

and energy. People are starting to warm up to the idea of change. They're honing the abilities

they'll need to succeed in the new environment, and they already see results from their

efforts. During this stage, I had high energy in building the skills that I need to be more

productive in my nursing career, leading me to start early wins from my efforts. I became

more open to learning new things that help me gain and more about nursing (Hauer et al.,

2020, np). More so, during this stage, my energy was renewed in being committed to my

group members and in my role as a nurse in helping patients.

I realized I was in the new beginning stage when I became used to handling many

patients. It had become a new normal when the COVID-19 spread was increasing at a high

rate. I realized that my job as a nurse was not about having free time to myself but instead

calling to serve others and save lives. I had to learn more than I had thought before. I had

goals that I should meet in my carrier and, more so, the long-term objectives that I had to

make for my country. Through this change, I got better in my specialty, and I was also

promoted to be the head of a department which was one of my goals as a nurse.

Writhing and reading through this passage has enabled me to gain some insights that

would eventually help in the facilitation of change in my working place. Firstly, organizing

my content before putting them down on paper made me realize that change and transition

are two different things- as noted earlier- which are merely distinguished. People are

subjected to change, even whether they might not accord with it. Internal transition,

comparatively, is what occurs in an individual's thinking when they change. Progress can be

made rapidly, but transition typically takes longer.

Change takes place despite anything and is inevitable, whereas transition is expected

of people after the change. Understanding this is efficiently important in understanding

people in similar occurrences. Similarly, the second crucial insight is the certainty of

evolution, which requires immediate and continuous preparation. Despite the inevitability of

change, we can always cope with it every time it finds us prepared (Bergren &Dewey, 2020,

pg. 407). It would be easier to provide therapy and all-around protection of health workers

from infection transmission due to inefficient and limited protective gear, unsafe working

environment, and insufficient knowledge.

The last and essential insight is the effects of change on individuals and outcomes of

deadly occurrences similar to COVID 19 and ways of dealing with them. We have

experienced psychological trauma and distress from this pandemic. Most patients who died

might even have failed not because of the infection but because of the emotional turmoil

which came with it. It would be essential to note that psychological distress is a deadly

condition that requires therapy. Experiencing a loss of loved one leaves the family

traumatized, especially when the person lost was a guardian or a parent to a person(s) who

directly depends on them. Organizing therapies on patients, families, and health care workers

with trauma would be an insufficient but helpful method in similar occurrences that might

occur in the future.

References

Bergren, M. D. (2020). Embracing Change in the Time of COVID.

Hauer, K. E., Lockspeiser, T. M., & Chen, H. C. (2020). The COVID-19 Pandemic as an

Imperative to Advance Medical Student Assessment: 3 Areas for Change. Academic

Medicine.

Miller, J. L. (2017). Managing transitions: using William Bridges' transition model and a

change style assessment instrument to inform strategies and measure Progress in

organizational change management. In The 12th International Conference on

Performance Measurement in Libraries Proceedings (p. 357).

Rosenbaum, D., More, E., & Steane, P. (2018). Planned organizational change management:

Forward to the past? An exploratory literature review. Journal of Organizational

Change Management.

World Health Organization (2020) Rolling updates on coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Available at:

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/events-as-they-

happen.

Zaka, A., Shamloo, S. E., Fiorente, P., & Tafuri, A. (2020). COVID-19 pandemic as a

watershed moment: A call for systematic psychological health care for frontline

medical staff.