Burnout syndrome in Romanian medical residents in time of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Burnout is a state of physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress. Burnout during residency training has gained significant attention secondary to concerns regarding job performance and patient care. The new COVID-19 pandemic has raised public health problems around the world and required a reorganization of health services. In this context, burnout syndrome and physical exhaustion have become even more pronounced. Resident doctors, and especially those in certain specialties, seem even more exposed due to the higher workload, prolonged exposure and first contact with patients. This article is a short review of the literature and a presentation of some considerations regarding the activity of the medical residents in a non-Covid emergency hospital in Romania, based on the responses obtained via a questionnaire. Burnout prevalence is not equal in different specialties. We studied its impact and imagine the potential steps that can be taken in order to reduce the increasing rate of burnout syndrome in the pandemics.

Coping With Stress and Burnout Associated With Telecommunication and Online Learning

“…Recognizing stress and burnout resulting from telecommunication during pandemics is necessary to develop effective mitigation strategies. Research conducted on stress and burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic mainly focused on physicians, nurses, and other healthcare workers (57)(58)(59)(60)(61). Screening and surveying studies exploring stress and burnout levels among the general population or other vulnerable groups are lacking.…”

The psychological status of 8817 hospital workers during COVID-19 Epidemic: A cross-sectional study in Chongqing

“…Two reasons may explain these findings. First, previous studies have shown that frontline hospital workers suffer heavy workload, quarantine, direct contact with confirmed patients, and inconvenience brought by personal protective equipment (PPE), all of which result in emotional, somatic symptoms, and perceived stress ( Marjanovic et al., 2007 ; Lai et al., 2020 ; Dimitriu et al., 2020 ). Second, county hospital workers worked with insufficient specialize instrument and PPE, less experience and training to cope with contagion, and without knowing if the patients were infectious, all of which increased their psychologic symptoms and pressures ( Tsamakis et al., 2020 ; Kisely et al., 2020 ; Chua et al., 2004 ).…”

“…First, cognitive and behavior changes (suicidal ideation or risk behavior) as responses to a crisis are noteworthy, as they are possible to evolve into prolonged impairment. Regular follow-up evaluation and personalized psychological intervention strategy (if necessary) were encouraged to conduct at hospital level ( Brooks et al., 2019 ; Dimitriu et al., 2020 ). Second, adequate PPE, sufficient rest, and practical support can reduce the stress in hospital workers, especially those working in county hospitals ( Kisely et al., 2020 ; Kontoangelos et al., 2020 ).…”

Changing patterns of urologic emergency visits and admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective, multicenter, nationwide study

“…Finally, cultural differences, media coverage, and population fear level, which varies significantly among nations (e.g. lower COVID-19 fear level in Eastern Europeans), may also have played a role in our lower declines in ED attendance [19][20][21].…”