COVID‐19, Healthcare Workers and

Abstract

The pandemic has generated global, social, and workplace disruption, with profound effects on healthcare delivery, healthcare staffing, and healthcare workers' mental health. While a significant number of healthcare workers globally have been infected with the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus leading to coronavirus disease (COVID‐19), importantly, all healthcare workers have been affected by the immense workplace and psychosocial disruption caused by the pandemic. Healthcare workers grappled with notions of risk, increased workplace disruption, and mental health impacts such as burnout, along with the social restrictions to which populations were subjected. Through a sociological discussion of key factors shaping the impact of COVID‐19 on healthcare workers and COVID‐19, this entry identifies the broader social and political forces that shape the structuring and experience of healthcare work.