Evolution of risk perception of medical staff during public health emergencies: a qualitative study

Abstract：Objective To explore the evolution law for risk perception of medical staff during public health emergencies so as to provide decision support for assessing the risk perception status of medical staff, predicting their behavioral changes and guiding their emotional responses. Methods A total of 16 medical staff were enrolled as the research objects by purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with phenomenological research methods. Colaizzi 7-step analysis method was used to summarize the data and abstract the themes. Results In this study, the risk perception of medical staff showed three stages along with the evolution of risk: 1.vigilance period,during which the perception included the multi-channel access to information, warning of previous similar events, high vigilance, taking active protective measures, and calm response; 2. observation period, during which the perception mainly covered gradual standardization of protective behaviors, proactive identification of public opinion information and understanding of the evolution trend of public health emergencies, and the emotion changes with the fluctuation of the epidemic; and 3. maintenance period, during which the main perception including the habitual formation of paying attention to the development of information related to the epidemic, the stability of emotional response, the normalization of adaptation to the epidemic and the formation of appropriate protective behavior. Conclusions Such measures as dynamic assessmen t of risk perception of medical staff,necessary organizational support including timely and accurate publication of risk-related information, and establishment of a standardized process for medical personnel training will help medical staff to maintain proper risk perception level and reduce the possibility of adverse effects, which is of great significance for improving the emergency control ability for handling public health emergencies

Keywords：public health emergency; medical staff; risk perception; qualitative study;

Series：(E) Medicine ＆ Public Health

Subject：Clinical Medicine

Classification Code：R47

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Recommended citation: Li YQ, Gu JN, Sun YM, Shao J, Dang Y, Guo JM, Jin YW, Hu GY, Sun HY. (2022). “Evolution of risk perception of medical staff during public health emergencies: a qualitative study.” Modern Clinical Nursing. 21(08):43-47.