AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO THE CHALLENGES OF PATIENT CARE IN THE POST-COVID-19 ERA

Background: The aim of the article is to present selected spiritual-ethical topics that highlighted the time of the pandemic in the feedback of health professionals themselves during their concurrent university studies at the Faculty of Health Studies, University of Pardubice in the Czech Republic. Methods: The method of work is an interdisciplinary interpretation of a pilot survey among health professionals who have served in the COVID-19 departments at the ethical, philosophical, and spiritual levels. Results: In contrast to the already existing outputs from sociological surveys among health professionals, the inherent value of the article is its interdisciplinary approach to the interpretation of the obtained data. The topic of the first chapter reflects the legitimate need to protect oneself from the spread of the disease with the help of respirators and other protective equipment, which has limited the possibilities of communication between healthcare professionals and patients. This has proven the importance of the human face in communication. Another topic concerns the care of mental health of health professionals in the prevention of burnout syndrome, which they face due to work overload in covid department. Finally, the topic of the noon third chapter presents the current discussion of moral dilemmas and moral distress among health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a new burden on health professionals on a physical, mental and spiritual level. The pre-existing post-lid syndrome among health professionals will require an interdisciplinary approach, the establishment of interdisciplinary counseling teams, mentoring and forms of support at the level of ethical, psychological and spiritual support for health professionals.