Burnout at the hospital: Healthcare workers coping with COVID-19 stress

Abstract

Objective The first wave of COVID-19 was challenging for healthcare workers. This study analyzed the ways of coping with stress at a university hospital. Method A Sociodemographic Characterization, Risk and Exposure Assessment, Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT-23), and COVID-19 Coping Scale were responded online by 181 professionals. Results The sample was composed mainly of women, white, married, physicians, with one job. Over 80% of the sample were at high exposure and risk for infection, with 17.1% having tested positive. The most reported stressors were risks of transmitting the disease, being hospitalized, and being separated from loved ones; 11% presented the risk of/probable burnout, with exhaustion and emotional impairment. They presented adaptive coping strategies, such as problem-solving and information-seeking, with a negative correlation between adaptive coping and burnout. Being a physician with maladaptive coping, in psychiatric care, and having religious beliefs were predictors of burnout. Conclusion Promoting adaptive coping may improve the mental health of these workers.

An Analysis of Burnout, Coping, and Pulse Wave Velocity in Relation to the Workplace of Healthcare Workers for the Sustainability of the Medical Career

“…Unlike the results in Ref. [24], in our study, larger scores for mental distancing were recorded in the intensive care unit group and in the occupational health group. If in the case of the subjects who work in the intensive care unit, the mental distancing can be attributed to the severity of the cases, in the group of subjects who work in occupational health, the mental distancing can be explained by the older average age (50.30 ± 6.51 years).…”

“…Similar results with small numbers of subjects at burnout were reported in Ref. [24], using the BAT-23, among healthcare workers in Brazil, but they worked in the infirmary and intensive care sectors that cared for patients diagnosed with COVID-19, as well as those for other diseases.…”

“…As reported in Ref. [24], exhaustion and emotional impairment were the main symptoms presented. In our study, each studied group reaches the burnout region, with the exception of the cardiology group, which is prone to burnout, with respect to exhaustion.…”