Healthcare workers have remained a significant part of communities across the world for centuries and have continued to provide care for people in times of need. Once the Coronavirus took over the world and changed the daily lives of millions of individuals, it was healthcare workers who were at the forefront taking care of an overflow of ill patients while exposing themselves to the virus. This study focuses primarily on healthcare workers in the United States during the course of COVID-19 and the interviews were conducted in 2022. To conduct this research the Culture Shock U-Curve was adopted to analyze how participants adapted to the changes and challenges of the virus in their personal and professional wellbeing at the individual and family level. This includes healthcare workers’ mental, physical, and socioeconomic wellbeing. The study investigates how policies, practices, and programs were used to support healthcare workers. The researcher used qualitative method, document review, and conducted interviews with healthcare workers to accumulate significant data. To support the credibility of this study the researcher used peer assessment, an in-depth literature review, and thick description. The researcher found that healthcare workers were likely to feel stressed, fearful, burnout, and overwhelmed during the beginning of the pandemic due to several changes they were experiencing rapidly. The researcher also found that there were many different policies, practices, and programs that the government and healthcare facilities implicated to curb the spread of COVID-19, and for the safety of healthcare workers. For instance, support programs were made available and additional steps were taken to keep healthcare workers safe, such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and limiting the visitation of family members.

Al Thobaity, A., & Alshammari, F. (2020). Nurses on the frontline against the COVID-19 pandemic: An integrative review. Dubai Medical Journal, 3(3), 87–92. https://doi.org/10.1159/000509361
Barki, H., & Hartwick, J. (2001). Interpersonal conflict and its management in information system development. MIS Quarterly, 25(2), 195–228. https://doi.org/10.2307/3250929
Black, J. S., & Gregersen, H. (1999, March 1). The right way to manage expats. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/1999/03/the-right-way-to-manage-expats
Black, J. S., & Mendenhall, M. (1991). The U-curve adjustment hypothesis revisited: A review and theoretical framework. Journal of International Business Studies, 22(2), 225–247. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490301
Block, E., & Vindrola-Padros, C. (2021). Making do: COVID-19 and the improvisation of care in the UK and US. In L. Manderson, N. J. Burke, & A. Wahlberg (Eds.), Viral Loads: Anthropologies of Urgency in the time of COVID-19 (pp. 303–323). UCL Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1j13zb3.22
Cai, Q., Okada, A., Jeong, B., & Kim, S. (2021). Civil society responses to the covid-19
pandemic: a comparative study of China, Japan, and South Korea. China Review, 21(1),107–138.
Carey, P., Groen, J. A., Jensen, B. A., Polivka, A. E., & Krolik, T. J. (2021). Applying for and receiving unemployment insurance benefits during the coronavirus pandemic. Monthly Labor Review. https://doi.org/10.21916/mlr.2021.19
CDC. (2020, March 28). COVID data tracker. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#cases_totalcases
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. New ICD10-CM code for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID19), April 1, 2020b. Published 2020. Updated March 18, 2020. https://www.cdc. gov/nchs/data/icd/Announcement-New-ICD-code-forcoronavirus-3-18-2020.pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). How coronavirus spreads. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/how-covid-spreads.html.
Chien, Y.-Y. G. (2016). After six decades: Applying the U-curve hypothesis to the adjustment of international postgraduate students. Journal of Research in International Education, 15(1), 32–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/1475240916639398
Creswell, J. W. (2012). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches, 3rd Ed. Sage.
Croghan, I. T., Chesak, S. S., Adusumalli, J., Fischer, K. M., Beck, E. W., Patel, S. R., Ghosh, K., Schroeder, D. R., & Bhagra, A. (2021). Stress, resilience, and coping of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Primary Care & Community Health. https://doi.org/10.1177/21501327211008448
Fuentes, G. A. (2020). Federal detention and “wild facts” during the covid-19 pandemic. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1973-), 110(3), 441–476. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48573788
Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1989). Fourth generation evaluation. Sage.
Heyink, J. W., & Tymstra, TJ. (1993). The function of qualitative research. Social Indicators Research, 29(3), 291–305. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27522699
Huang, K. (2021). Minimizing the social dilemma: Taiwan’s unexpected achievement in fighting the covid-19 pandemic. Investigación Económica, 80(316), 32–55.
Jhong, D.-Y. (2019). International workers' strategies for handling conflicts in the preadjusted and adjusted period in Taiwan [Unpublished master’s thesis]. National Taiwan Normal University.
Kerim, S. (2020). America, COVID-19, and multilateralism. Horizons: Journal of International Relations and Sustainable Development, (17), 258–267.
Kishi, R., Wolfson, A., Lim, M.-G., Stall, H., & Jones, S. (2021). A national emergency: How COVID-19 is fueling unrest in the US. Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.
Lewis, N. D., & Mayer, J. D. (2020). Challenges and responses to COVID-19: Experience from Asia. East-West Center, 1–2. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep25511
Lysgaard, S. (1955) Adjustment in a foreign society: Norwegian Fulbright grantees visiting the United States. International Social Science Bulletin. 7(1). 45–51.
Mätzke, M. (2021). Political resonance in Austria’s coronavirus crisis management. In S. Greer., E. King., E Fonseca., & A Peralta-Santos (Eds.), Coronavirus Politics: The Comparative Politics and Policy of COVID-19 (pp. 280–294). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3998/mpub.11927713.18
Mellish, T. I., Luzmore, N. J., & Shahbaz, A. A. (2020). Why were the UK and USA unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic? The systemic weaknesses of neoliberalism: a comparison between the UK, USA, Germany, and South Korea. Journal of Global Faultlines, 7(1), 9–45. https://doi.org/10.13169/jglobfaul.7.1.0009
Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2015). Qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
Mertens, D. M. (2005). Research methods in education and psychology (Vol. 2). Sage.
Miyamoto, I. (2020). Covid-19 healthcare workers: 70% are women. Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep24863
Molinsky, A. (2007). Cross-cultural code-switching: the psychological challenges of adapting behavior in foreign cultural interactions. The Academy of Management Review, 32(2), 622–640. https://doi.org/10.2307/20159318
Newman, K. L., Jeve, Y., & Majumder, P. (2021). Experiences and emotional strain of NHS frontline workers during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Social Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207640211006153
National Civic League Staff. (2021). Public engagement and crisis management: Black administrators talk about doing public work during a pandemic. National Civic Review, 110(1), 55–59. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.32543/naticivirevi.110.1.0055
Nolan, R. W. (1990). Culture shock and cross-cultural adaptation or, I was ok until I got here. Practicing Anthropology, 12(4), 2–20. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44247160
Park, J. (2021). Institutions matter in fighting COVID-19: Public Health, Social Policies, and the Control Tower in South Korea. In Greer S., King E., Fonseca E., & Peralta-Santos A. (Eds.), Coronavirus politics: the comparative politics and policy of COVID19. University of Michigan Press.
Singer, P. M., Willison, C. E., Moore-Petinak, N., & Greer, S. L. (2021). Anatomy of a Failure: COVID-19 in the United States. Coronavirus Politics: The Comparative Politics and Policy of COVID-19 (pp. 478–493). University of Michigan Press http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3998/mpub.11927713.28
Spoorthy, M. S., Pratapa, S. K., & Mahant, S. (2020). Mental health problems faced by healthcare workers due to the COVID-19 pandemic–A Review. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 51, 102119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102119
Strauss A, Corbin J (1998) Basics of qualitative research. techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. (2nd Ed). Sage.
Ward, C, & Kennedy, A. (1999) The measurement of sociocultural adaptation. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 23: (pp. 659–677).
World Health Organization. (2021a). COVID-19: Occupational health and safety for health workers. World Health Organization. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep33225
World Health Organization. (2021b). Infection prevention and control during health care when coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is suspected or confirmed. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep35604
World Health Organization. (2020a). Mental health and psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep28154
World Health Organization. (2020b). Prevention, identification, and management of health worker infection in the context of COVID-19: Interim guidance. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep28137