A Sense of Being Needed: A Phenomenological Analysis of Hospital-Based Rehabilitation Professionals' Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Roel van Oorsouw, Anke Oerlemans, Emily Klooster and 6 others
PMID 35512349WHAT IT FOUND
Hospital rehabilitation staff felt moral distress from isolation rules that blocked human connection.
They coped by deliberately showing their faces, using their voices, and addressing patients by name. Managers should prioritize ethical dialogue and professional autonomy to support staff through future crises.
Key findings
01Staff experienced moral distress when isolation precautions and PPE shortages prevented them from providing person-centered care or helping colleagues.
02To maintain humanity, professionals deliberately showed their faces before entering rooms, sought eye contact, and used their voices to comfort patients.
03Crisis conditions temporarily reduced hierarchy, allowing staff to take on new roles and implement changes quickly, which they found energizing.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study only included staff perspectives, not managers or patients. Data collection was limited to video calls, which may have reduced rapport and missed non-verbal cues. The findings are from Dutch hospitals during the first wave, so they may not apply to other countries or later pandemic phases with different rules. Participants were excluded if they had psychological complaints requiring support, potentially missing the most distressed staff.
Declared interests
The funders played no role in the design, conduct, or reporting of this study.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume these findings prove that specific coping strategies like showing faces improve clinical outcomes. The study describes staff experiences and perceptions of what helped them feel human, but it does not measure patient recovery or staff retention rates.