Coping with COVID podcast

In this episode, Helen is joined by Sophie, who worked in the NHS during COVID-19 as a final year medical student. She talks about the ways in which caring for patients has been different during the pandemic, and some of the challenges that has presented.

If you’re a medical, nursing, physician associate or AHP student, and you’d like to talk on the podcast about your experiences of working or studying during the COVID-19 pandemic, please get in touch with us. Contact us at: [email protected]

If you need support, here are a few of our recommendations:

University of Liverpool Student Support Services (for nursing, allied health and other students at the University of Liverpool) https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/studentsupport/

School of Medicine Wellbeing Team (for medical students at the University of Liverpool) [email protected]

Employee Assistance Programme (for staff at the University of Liverpool) https://staff.liverpool.ac.uk/our-workplace-and-community/support-and-development/employee-assistance-programme/)

NHS Staff Support Line https://people.nhs.uk/help/

Your GP Samaritans free phoneline: 116 123

http://www.samaritans.org

Papyrus 0800 068 41 41

https://papyrus-uk.org/

Suzi talks to Dr Ross White, a Reader in Clinical Psychology at the University of Liverpool. They discuss why difficult thoughts and feelings might occur, and strategies people can employ to manage them, in particular Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

Ross recommends a number of resources for further reading and research:

Harris, R. (2006). Embracing your demons: An overview of acceptance and commitment therapy. Psychotherapy in Australia, 12(4), 2-8.

https://www.actmindfully.com.au/upimages/Dr_Russ_Harris_-_A_Non-technical_Overview_of_ACT.pdf

More information about ACT and associated resources available at the Association of Contextual Behavioural Science webpage: https://contextualscience.org/

If you are interested in finding more, Ross recommends this book:

Russ Harris - The Happiness Trap: Stop Struggling, Start Living https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/184529825X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_4uK8Eb65V4K5B

In this episode, Sam Pullan from Nursing and Professor Richard Fuller from Medicine discuss the challenges of starting a new role in the NHS and strategies that can help you to adjust.

Richard talked about research by Sue Kilminster and colleagues about critically intensive learning periods: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21916940/

and Michael Eraut’s work on tacit knowledge: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10765570/

This paper by Judy Duchscher explains a theoretical framework of transition shock: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19183235/

Other resources that may be helpful are:

Sam Pullan’s fantastic lecture of top tips for starting a new job https://padlet.com/vcthorn/n4jo7z6stp9w;

The ‘Class of Corona’ podcast http://classofcorona.podbean.com/;

BMJ Learning webinar “Prepare for practise: Student to doctor” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5ui5d5R-oA

Brené Brown’s podcast episode on “FFTs” https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-on-ffts/

In this episode, Helen West is joined by Duncan, a 3rd year nursing student who has been redeployed to work in the NHS as part of the UK response to COVID-19. He talks about some of the challenges and defining moments, and how he’s coped with these experiences.

If you’re a medical, nursing or allied health student, and you’d like to talk on the podcast about your experiences of working or studying during the COVID-19 pandemic, please get in touch with us.

Contact us at: [email protected]

If you need support, here are a few of our recommendations:

University of Liverpool Student Support Services (for nursing, allied health and other students at the University of Liverpool) https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/studentsupport/

School of Medicine Wellbeing Team (for medical students at the University of Liverpool) [email protected]

Employee Assistance Programme (for staff at the University of Liverpool) https://staff.liverpool.ac.uk/our-workplace-and-community/support-and-development/employee-assistance-programme/)

NHS Staff Support Line https://people.nhs.uk/help/

Your GP Samaritans free phoneline: 116 123

www.samaritans.org

Papyrus 0800 068 41 41

https://papyrus-uk.org/

Helen talks to Dr Suzi Gage about alcohol: Are people drinking more during the COVID-19 pandemic? If they are, what are the effects and when does that present a problem? Find out evidence-based strategies that can help if you think you’re drinking too much too often.

Dr Gage’s book & podcast:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Say-Why-Drugs-Everything-About/dp/1473686229

https://play.acast.com/s/saywhytodrugs/

Summary of the Alcohol Change UK survey results

https://alcoholchange.org.uk/blog/2020/covid19-drinking-during-lockdown-headline-findings

The study exploring the effects of hangover on cognition:

Gunn, C., Mackus, M., Griffin, C., Munafò, M. R., and Adams, S. ( 2018) A systematic review of the next‐day effects of heavy alcohol consumption on cognitive performance. Addiction, 113: 2182– 2193. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.14404.

NHS Alcohol support

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-support/

Alcoholics Anonymous

https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/

In this episode, Dr Katie Herron talks about how your sleep might’ve been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and gives evidence-based strategies to improve your sleep.

Sleepio App : a self-help app to improve sleep - https://onboarding.sleepio.com/sleepio/nhs-staff/77#1/1

The Sleep Foundation : Information and resources on sleep problems - https://www.sleepfoundation.org/

We’d like the podcast to respond to the challenges you’re facing, so please let us know your questions and concerns at [email protected]

Lai, J., Ma, S., Wang, Y., Cai, Z., Hu, J., Wei, N., Wu, J., Du, H., Chen, T., Li, R., Tan, H., Kang, L., Yao, L., Huang, M., Wang, H., Wang, G., Liu, Z., & Hu, S. (2020). Factors Associated With Mental Health Outcomes Among Health Care Workers Exposed to Coronavirus Disease 2019. JAMA Network Open, 3(3), e203976.

Xiao, H., Zhang, Y., Kong, D., Li, S., & Yang, N. (2020). The Effects of Social Support on Sleep Quality of Medical Staff Treating Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in January and February 2020 in China. Medical Science Monitor: International Medical Journal of Experimental and Clinical Research, 26, e923549.

In Episode 2 Suzi Gage speaks to Professor Laurence Alison from the department of psychology about resilience. What is it? Why is it important when working in stressful environments, and practical advice for keeping going when things are tough.

If you're interested in reading more about resilience this is a link to an article exploring these concepts: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4185134/

The debriefing tool mentioned in the episode can be found here: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/project-ares/debriefing-tool/

More information about resilience and stress can be found on the Project ARES website: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/project-ares/stress-and-resilience/

We’d like the podcast to respond to the challenges you’re facing, so please let us know your questions and concerns at [email protected]

Resilience definitions, theory, and challenges: interdisciplinary perspectives

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4185134/

In this first episode we look at how to recharge your mental health and the ‘coping reservoir’ model. Staff in the School of Medicine and Nursing share the strategies they’re using to look after their mental wellbeing: find out who’s dancing to 80s music, re-watching feel-good films, taking up yoga, and who has a new puppy. University of Liverpool medical and nursing students can find out more about the reservoir model from Dr Helen West's lecture on the topic, available on VITAL.

We’d like the podcast to respond to the challenges you’re facing, so please let us know your questions and concerns at [email protected]

Dunn, L.B, Iglewicz, M.D. & Moutier, C. (2008). A Conceptual Model of Medical Student Well-Being: Promoting Resilience and Preventing Burnout. Academic Psychiatry, 32(1), 44-53.

Zwack, J., & Schweitzer, J. (2013). If Every Fifth Physician Is Affected by Burnout, What About the Other Four? Resilience Strategies of Experienced Physicians. Academic Medicine, 88(3), 382–389.