Psychological and Ethical Support for Hospital Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Suitability and Post-crisis Implications for the Experience of All Professionals

SARS-COV-2 has created an unprecedented health crisis, resulting in unprecedented mobilization of all hospital professionals. The massive influx of patients overwhelmed the human, therapeutic and material resources available, and teams were confronted with an unusually heavy workload in a highly stressful emergency context. These professionals were thus exposed to a risk of over-investment in a context of acute and repetitive stress over an indefinite period of time, combining a heavy workload, emotional challenges and specific ethical issues. These factors simultaneously affected the professional sphere but also the personal and family spheres (lockdown, risk of contamination). In this context, the mental health of hospital staff is considered to be more important than ever, as emphasized on numerous occasions by the Director General of Health and the French Minister for Health and Solidarity. Mental health involves the way in which individuals respond specifically to work-related suffering by developing individual and collective defensive strategies. Thus, the question of the mental health of hospital professionals cannot be considered without taking into account the strategies implmented to combat stress, and the factors that contribute or not to the construction and stabilization of the work environment (collaboration, support).