Burnout Among Healthcare Workers in the COVID 19 Era: A Review of the Existing Literature
In the current period of global public health crisis due to the COVID-19, healthcare workers are more exposed to physical and mental exhaustion – burnout – for the torment of difficult decisions, the pain of losing patients and colleagues, and the risk of infection, for themselves and their families...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.750529/full |
| _version_ | 1818691476072169472 |
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| author | Carlo Giacomo Leo Saverio Sabina Maria Rosaria Tumolo Antonella Bodini Giuseppe Ponzini Eugenio Sabato Eugenio Sabato Pierpaolo Mincarone |
| author_facet | Carlo Giacomo Leo Saverio Sabina Maria Rosaria Tumolo Antonella Bodini Giuseppe Ponzini Eugenio Sabato Eugenio Sabato Pierpaolo Mincarone |
| author_sort | Carlo Giacomo Leo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the current period of global public health crisis due to the COVID-19, healthcare workers are more exposed to physical and mental exhaustion – burnout – for the torment of difficult decisions, the pain of losing patients and colleagues, and the risk of infection, for themselves and their families. The very high number of cases and deaths, and the probable future “waves” raise awareness of these challenging working conditions and the need to address burnout by identifying possible solutions. Measures have been suggested to prevent or reduce burnout at individual level (physical activity, balanced diet, good sleep hygiene, family support, meaningful relationships, reflective practices and small group discussions), organizational level (blame-free environments for sharing experiences and advices, broad involvement in management decisions, multi-disciplinary psychosocial support teams, safe areas to withdraw quickly from stressful situations, adequate time planning, social support), and cultural level (involvement of healthcare workers in the development, implementation, testing, and evaluation of measures against burnout). Although some progress has been made in removing the barrier to psychological support to cope with work-related stress, a cultural change is still needed for the stigma associated with mental illness. The key recommendation is to address the challenges that the emergency poses and to aggregate health, well-being and behavioral science expertise through long term researches with rigorous planning and reporting to drive the necessary cultural change and the improvement of public health systems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T12:42:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5064e36603244f3398d4951923d57a28 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T12:42:30Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-5064e36603244f3398d4951923d57a282022-12-21T21:47:54ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652021-10-01910.3389/fpubh.2021.750529750529Burnout Among Healthcare Workers in the COVID 19 Era: A Review of the Existing LiteratureCarlo Giacomo Leo0Saverio Sabina1Maria Rosaria Tumolo2Antonella Bodini3Giuseppe Ponzini4Eugenio Sabato5Eugenio Sabato6Pierpaolo Mincarone7Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council, Lecce, ItalyInstitute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council, Lecce, ItalyInstitute for Research on Population and Social Policies, National Research Council, Brindisi, ItalyInstitute for Applied Mathematics and Information Technologies “E. Magenes,” National Research Council, Milan, ItalyInstitute for Research on Population and Social Policies, National Research Council, Brindisi, ItalyInstitute for Research on Population and Social Policies, National Research Council, Brindisi, ItalyRespiratory Diseases Unit, “A. Perrino” P.O., Brindisi, ItalyInstitute for Research on Population and Social Policies, National Research Council, Brindisi, ItalyIn the current period of global public health crisis due to the COVID-19, healthcare workers are more exposed to physical and mental exhaustion – burnout – for the torment of difficult decisions, the pain of losing patients and colleagues, and the risk of infection, for themselves and their families. The very high number of cases and deaths, and the probable future “waves” raise awareness of these challenging working conditions and the need to address burnout by identifying possible solutions. Measures have been suggested to prevent or reduce burnout at individual level (physical activity, balanced diet, good sleep hygiene, family support, meaningful relationships, reflective practices and small group discussions), organizational level (blame-free environments for sharing experiences and advices, broad involvement in management decisions, multi-disciplinary psychosocial support teams, safe areas to withdraw quickly from stressful situations, adequate time planning, social support), and cultural level (involvement of healthcare workers in the development, implementation, testing, and evaluation of measures against burnout). Although some progress has been made in removing the barrier to psychological support to cope with work-related stress, a cultural change is still needed for the stigma associated with mental illness. The key recommendation is to address the challenges that the emergency poses and to aggregate health, well-being and behavioral science expertise through long term researches with rigorous planning and reporting to drive the necessary cultural change and the improvement of public health systems.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.750529/fullCOVID-19burnouthealthcare workersmental healthpublic health |
| spellingShingle | Carlo Giacomo Leo Saverio Sabina Maria Rosaria Tumolo Antonella Bodini Giuseppe Ponzini Eugenio Sabato Eugenio Sabato Pierpaolo Mincarone Burnout Among Healthcare Workers in the COVID 19 Era: A Review of the Existing Literature Frontiers in Public Health COVID-19 burnout healthcare workers mental health public health |
| title | Burnout Among Healthcare Workers in the COVID 19 Era: A Review of the Existing Literature |
| title_full | Burnout Among Healthcare Workers in the COVID 19 Era: A Review of the Existing Literature |
| title_fullStr | Burnout Among Healthcare Workers in the COVID 19 Era: A Review of the Existing Literature |
| title_full_unstemmed | Burnout Among Healthcare Workers in the COVID 19 Era: A Review of the Existing Literature |
| title_short | Burnout Among Healthcare Workers in the COVID 19 Era: A Review of the Existing Literature |
| title_sort | burnout among healthcare workers in the covid 19 era a review of the existing literature |
| topic | COVID-19 burnout healthcare workers mental health public health |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.750529/full |
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