Page 84 - GHES-2-3

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Disposition of health-care workers toward

hospital patients during the COVID-19 pandemic
in Nigeria

Christain C. Iyiani , Henry T. Ajibo* , and Jacinta C. Ene

Department of Social Work, Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka,
Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

During the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization
declared health-care workers “the last line of defense against the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Against this backdrop, this study investigated the state, responses, and attitudes
of health-care workers toward hospital patients during the pandemic in Nigeria,
alongside the attitudes of patients and the responsibilities of Nigerian social workers
in ensuring adequate patient care. Employing a descriptive research design, the
study sampled 17 respondents from Enugu State and utilized a qualitative research
approach with an in-depth interview guide for data collection. The findings revealed
that Nigerian healthcare workers exhibited a negative attitude toward hospital
patients during the pandemic. Factors contributing to this negative attitude include
fear of contracting the virus due to inadequate personal protective equipment, lack
Academic editor:
Mihajlo Jakovljevic M.D. Ph.D. MAE of incentives, insufficient hazard allowances, and inadequate hospital facilities. The
death rate of patients with complications unrelated to COVID-19 was high because
*Corresponding author:
Henry T. Ajibo patients avoided hospital care even when critically ill due to fear of contracting
henry.ajibo@unn.edu.ng) the virus. Consequently, there was an increase in self-medication and reliance on
alternative medicine among patients. Social workers played a significant role by
Citation: Iyiani, C.C., Ajibo, H.T.
& Ene, J.C. (2024). Disposition of advocating for improved hospital care and welfare for patients. They engaged in
health-care workers toward hospital dialogue with hospital management to secure better attention and treatment for
patients during the COVID-19 patients and advocated for adequate welfare provision for health-care workers.
pandemic in Nigeria. Global Health
Econ Sustain, 2(3):2743. Social workers undertook educational initiatives to raise awareness among patients
https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2743 about the dangers of alternative medicine, self-medication, and the imperativeness
Received: January 15, 2024 of complying with the stipulated COVID-19 preventive protocol. In conclusion, this
study recommends policy reforms aimed at enhancing budgetary allocations to
Accepted: February 29, 2024
the health-care sector and institutionalizing the social work profession in Nigeria
Published Online: July 23, 2024 through constitutional provisions.
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
This is an Open Access article
distributed under the terms of the Keywords: Healthcare workers; Hospital patients; COVID-19 pandemic; Social work
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is
properly cited. 1. Introduction
Publisher’s Note: AccScience SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus), a novel virus suspected to have originated from a wildlife
Publishing remains neutral with market in Wuhan City, China, in December 2019 (Johns Hopkins Medicine, 2020),
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional primarily causes mild-to-moderate respiratory illnesses in the majority of infected
affiliations. individuals, who typically recover without requiring special treatment. However, older

Volume 2 Issue 3 (2024) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2743