Burnout for Healthcare Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Burnout in Healthcare

The healthcare system has undergone various changes over the years. A majority of those changes over the years have been made to make the healthcare system more efficient in achieving its role. The main role of the healthcare system has been to ensure that affordable healthcare services are made available to the citizens. As such, a majority of the changes which have occurred have been focused on the patients as the main stakeholders of the healthcare system. For the healthcare services to be made available to the patients, the healthcare institutions have also focused on maintaining profitability. Unfortunately, the changes to the healthcare system to ensure the affordability of services and the profitability of delivering the services have left the healthcare professionals (HPs) bearing the pressures and the burdensADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Sultana”,”given”:”Abida”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Sharma”,”given”:”Rachit”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Hossain”,”given”:”Md Mahbub”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Bhattacharya”,”given”:”Sudip”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Purohit”,”given”:”Neetu”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2020″]]},”publisher”:”SocArXiv”,”title”:”Burnout among healthcare providers during COVID-19 pandemic: Challenges and evidence-based interventions”,”type”:”article-journal”},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=b90daed4-92c4-4b42-8370-9b6048c38a6f”]},{“id”:”ITEM-2″,”itemData”:{“author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Chor”,”given”:”Wei Ping Daniel”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Ng”,”given”:”Wei Ming”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Cheng”,”given”:”Lenard”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Situ”,”given”:”Wangmin”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Chong”,”given”:”Jun Wei”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Ng”,”given”:”Ling Ying Abigail”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Mok”,”given”:”Pek Ling”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Yau”,”given”:”Ying Wei”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Lin”,”given”:”Ziwei”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”The American Journal of Emergency Medicine”,”id”:”ITEM-2″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2021″]]},”page”:”700″,”publisher”:”Elsevier”,”title”:”Burnout amongst emergency healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multi-center study”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”46″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=909279e5-f6b5-4533-b7cd-10d95ffc746d”]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Chor et al., 2021; Sultana et al., 2020)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Chor et al., 2021; Sultana et al., 2020)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Chor et al., 2021; Sultana et al., 2020)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Chor et al., 2021; Sultana et al., 2020). For example, more physicians are doing more clerical work, which either distracts them from providing adequate care to the patients or adds to their workload. As a result, HPs have been increasingly working in high-stress environments, which has led to the profession being characterized with high rates of burnout. With the advent of the novel coronavirus and the COVID-19 pandemic, the stressors in the healthcare working environment have only increased, resulting in higher rates of burnout for HPsADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Matsuo”,”given”:”Takahiro”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Kobayashi”,”given”:”Daiki”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Taki”,”given”:”Fumika”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Sakamoto”,”given”:”Fumie”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Uehara”,”given”:”Yuki”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Mori”,”given”:”Nobuyoshi”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Fukui”,”given”:”Tsuguya”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”JAMA network open”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issue”:”8″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2020″]]},”page”:”e2017271-e2017271″,”publisher”:”American Medical Association”,”title”:”Prevalence of health care worker burnout during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”3″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=16d42042-03c4-4e77-ac2a-5db32ae8d57e”]},{“id”:”ITEM-2″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”1432-1246″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Jalili”,”given”:”Mohammad”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Niroomand”,”given”:”Mahtab”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Hadavand”,”given”:”Fahimeh”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Zeinali”,”given”:”Kataun”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Fotouhi”,”given”:”Akbar”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health”,”id”:”ITEM-2″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2021″]]},”page”:”1-8″,”publisher”:”Springer”,”title”:”Burnout among healthcare professionals during COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study”,”type”:”article-journal”},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=b410b3dc-0680-4575-b511-0214f3250a5f”]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Jalili et al., 2021; Matsuo et al., 2020)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Jalili et al., 2021; Matsuo et al., 2020)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Jalili et al., 2021; Matsuo et al., 2020)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Jalili et al., 2021; Matsuo et al., 2020). In case of future pandemics, measures should be implemented to improve the resilience of HPs to the increased stressors of a pandemic.

New Stressors for HPs During the Pandemic

When the pandemic was first experienced, it resulted in drastic changes to the healthcare institutions. Suddenly, a majority of the healthcare facilities were being stretched beyond their capacity to take care of the COVID-19 patients. The HPs were also a stretched resource since they were required to work longer hours, handle more patients, and have tighter work rotations. The number of critical cases they were also dealing with had also increased in frequency, which made many HPs feel as if they were operating out of their depthsADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“author”:[{“dropping-particle”:”V”,”family”:”Ferry”,”given”:”Amy”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Wereski”,”given”:”Ryan”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Strachan”,”given”:”Fiona E”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Mills”,”given”:”Nicholas L”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”QJM: An International Journal of Medicine”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2021″]]},”publisher”:”Oxford University Press”,”title”:”Predictors of UK healthcare worker burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic”,”type”:”article-journal”},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=8a3f8e4c-ba21-48f0-9c9b-c0119c5154c2”]},{“id”:”ITEM-2″,”itemData”:{“author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Chor”,”given”:”Wei Ping Daniel”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Ng”,”given”:”Wei Ming”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Cheng”,”given”:”Lenard”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Situ”,”given”:”Wangmin”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Chong”,”given”:”Jun Wei”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Ng”,”given”:”Ling Ying Abigail”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Mok”,”given”:”Pek Ling”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Yau”,”given”:”Ying Wei”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Lin”,”given”:”Ziwei”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”The American Journal of Emergency Medicine”,”id”:”ITEM-2″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2021″]]},”page”:”700″,”publisher”:”Elsevier”,”title”:”Burnout amongst emergency healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multi-center study”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”46″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=909279e5-f6b5-4533-b7cd-10d95ffc746d”]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Chor et al., 2021; Ferry et al., 2021)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Chor et al., 2021; Ferry et al., 2021)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Chor et al., 2021; Ferry et al., 2021)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Chor et al., 2021; Ferry et al., 2021). The work burden of the HPs was further complicated by the fact that there was limited knowledge on how to deal with the disease and the patients. Many efforts were directed towards treating the symptoms without much hope of whether the patients would recover. This made the HPs feel like they were dealing with an impossible situationADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”1525-8610″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Tan”,”given”:”Benjamin Y Q”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Kanneganti”,”given”:”Abhiram”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Lim”,”given”:”Lucas J H”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Tan”,”given”:”Melanie”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Chua”,”given”:”Ying Xian”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Tan”,”given”:”Lifeng”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Sia”,”given”:”Ching Hui”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Denning”,”given”:”Max”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Goh”,”given”:”Ee Teng”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Purkayastha”,”given”:”Sanjay”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Journal of the American Medical Directors Association”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issue”:”12″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2020″]]},”page”:”1751-1758″,”publisher”:”Elsevier”,”title”:”Burnout and associated factors among health care workers in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”21″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=066a5bae-ddd9-4826-be15-b617e69ad54c”]},{“id”:”ITEM-2″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”2198-1833″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Talaee”,”given”:”Negin”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Varahram”,”given”:”Mohammad”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Jamaati”,”given”:”Hamidreza”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Salimi”,”given”:”Alireza”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Attarchi”,”given”:”Mirsaeed”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Kazempour Dizaji”,”given”:”Mehdi”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Sadr”,”given”:”Makan”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Hassani”,”given”:”Somayeh”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Farzanegan”,”given”:”Behrooz”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Monjazebi”,”given”:”Fateme”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Journal of Public Health”,”id”:”ITEM-2″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2020″]]},”page”:”1-6″,”publisher”:”Springer”,”title”:”Stress and burnout in health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic: validation of a questionnaire”,”type”:”article-journal”},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=fdbc40cc-7c68-459a-9922-ee72843397c1″]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Talaee et al., 2020; Tan et al., 2020)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Talaee et al., 2020; Tan et al., 2020)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Talaee et al., 2020; Tan et al., 2020)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Talaee et al., 2020; Tan et al., 2020). Apart from the limited knowledge that the HPs had to rely on to treat the COVID-19 patients, there was also the unpreparedness to deal with the higher implementation of telemedicine to satisfy the high demands for healthcare services.

Taking care of the COVID-19 patients also meant that the HPs had to take measures to reduce the likelihood of being infected, and hence compromised and rendered unfit to take care of other patients. Therefore, the HPs had to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) while dealing with the COVID-19 patients. However, because of the overwhelming rate at which the disease spread and the financial burden placed on the healthcare facilities, the PPEs were sometimes not enoughADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”0165-1781″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Barello”,”given”:”Serena”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Palamenghi”,”given”:”Lorenzo”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Graffigna”,”given”:”Guendalina”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Psychiatry research”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2020″]]},”page”:”113129″,”publisher”:”Elsevier”,”title”:”Burnout and somatic symptoms among frontline healthcare professionals at the peak of the Italian COVID-19 pandemic.”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”290″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=8a749be8-c9a5-4fdb-b7d4-a865f4998969”]},{“id”:”ITEM-2″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”1432-1246″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Jalili”,”given”:”Mohammad”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Niroomand”,”given”:”Mahtab”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Hadavand”,”given”:”Fahimeh”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Zeinali”,”given”:”Kataun”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Fotouhi”,”given”:”Akbar”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health”,”id”:”ITEM-2″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2021″]]},”page”:”1-8″,”publisher”:”Springer”,”title”:”Burnout among healthcare professionals during COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study”,”type”:”article-journal”},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=b410b3dc-0680-4575-b511-0214f3250a5f”]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Barello et al., 2020; Jalili et al., 2021)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Barello et al., 2020; Jalili et al., 2021)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Barello et al., 2020; Jalili et al., 2021)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Barello et al., 2020; Jalili et al., 2021). This resulted in the HPs constantly being in fear of being infected as one of the new stressors that the pandemic caused.

Before the pandemic, the healthcare environment was already characterized by enough stressors to the HPs. One way the HPs used to cope was through the support they got from their social networks and families. However, the pandemic resulted in social distancing and self-isolation policies. This made it difficult for the HPs to get the support they needed to cope in a high-stress environment. The impact was even greater for the families of the HPs since the HPs were constantly interacting with the COVID-19 patients, they had the highest risk of contracting the diseases. Therefore, to protect their families from the disease, most of them decided to isolate themselves from familyADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”1932-6203″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Morgantini”,”given”:”Luca A”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Naha”,”given”:”Ushasi”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Wang”,”given”:”Heng”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Francavilla”,”given”:”Simone”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Acar”,”given”:”Ömer”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Flores”,”given”:”Jose M”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Crivellaro”,”given”:”Simone”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Moreira”,”given”:”Daniel”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Abern”,”given”:”Michael”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Eklund”,”given”:”Martin”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”PloS one”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issue”:”9″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2020″]]},”page”:”e0238217″,”publisher”:”Public Library of Science San Francisco, CA USA”,”title”:”Factors contributing to healthcare professional burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic: a rapid turnaround global survey”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”15″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=cff63843-8355-4337-a30f-39db482d840b”]},{“id”:”ITEM-2″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”1432-1246″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Jalili”,”given”:”Mohammad”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Niroomand”,”given”:”Mahtab”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Hadavand”,”given”:”Fahimeh”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Zeinali”,”given”:”Kataun”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Fotouhi”,”given”:”Akbar”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health”,”id”:”ITEM-2″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2021″]]},”page”:”1-8″,”publisher”:”Springer”,”title”:”Burnout among healthcare professionals during COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study”,”type”:”article-journal”},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=b410b3dc-0680-4575-b511-0214f3250a5f”]},{“id”:”ITEM-3″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”2198-1833″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Talaee”,”given”:”Negin”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Varahram”,”given”:”Mohammad”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Jamaati”,”given”:”Hamidreza”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Salimi”,”given”:”Alireza”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Attarchi”,”given”:”Mirsaeed”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Kazempour Dizaji”,”given”:”Mehdi”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Sadr”,”given”:”Makan”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Hassani”,”given”:”Somayeh”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Farzanegan”,”given”:”Behrooz”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Monjazebi”,”given”:”Fateme”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Journal of Public Health”,”id”:”ITEM-3″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2020″]]},”page”:”1-6″,”publisher”:”Springer”,”title”:”Stress and burnout in health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic: validation of a questionnaire”,”type”:”article-journal”},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=fdbc40cc-7c68-459a-9922-ee72843397c1″]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Jalili et al., 2021; Morgantini et al., 2020; Talaee et al., 2020)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Jalili et al., 2021; Morgantini et al., 2020; Talaee et al., 2020)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Jalili et al., 2021; Morgantini et al., 2020; Talaee et al., 2020)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Jalili et al., 2021; Morgantini et al., 2020; Talaee et al., 2020). For a healthcare professional to interact with families, it was done with the psychological burden and fear of exposing the family members to the virus.

Apart from the stressors that the HPs experienced in their places of work, they had to deal with new stressors in their personal lives. The pandemic initially resulted in the closure of learning institutions as well as childcare facilities. This meant that the HPs who had children were forced to develop alternative options for childcare, such as employing people to take care of the children at home. This meant that some healthcare professions had to spend more even though they were earning lessADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”1932-6203″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Morgantini”,”given”:”Luca A”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Naha”,”given”:”Ushasi”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Wang”,”given”:”Heng”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Francavilla”,”given”:”Simone”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Acar”,”given”:”Ömer”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Flores”,”given”:”Jose M”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Crivellaro”,”given”:”Simone”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Moreira”,”given”:”Daniel”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Abern”,”given”:”Michael”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Eklund”,”given”:”Martin”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”PloS one”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issue”:”9″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2020″]]},”page”:”e0238217″,”publisher”:”Public Library of Science San Francisco, CA USA”,”title”:”Factors contributing to healthcare professional burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic: a rapid turnaround global survey”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”15″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=cff63843-8355-4337-a30f-39db482d840b”]},{“id”:”ITEM-2″,”itemData”:{“author”:[{“dropping-particle”:”V”,”family”:”Ferry”,”given”:”Amy”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Wereski”,”given”:”Ryan”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Strachan”,”given”:”Fiona E”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Mills”,”given”:”Nicholas L”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”QJM: An International Journal of Medicine”,”id”:”ITEM-2″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2021″]]},”publisher”:”Oxford University Press”,”title”:”Predictors of UK healthcare worker burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic”,”type”:”article-journal”},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=8a3f8e4c-ba21-48f0-9c9b-c0119c5154c2″]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Ferry et al., 2021; Morgantini et al., 2020)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Ferry et al., 2021; Morgantini et al., 2020)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Ferry et al., 2021; Morgantini et al., 2020)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Ferry et al., 2021; Morgantini et al., 2020). The pandemic had resulted in reduced out-patient revenue for the healthcare facilities, which had to cut down on salaries and benefits of the HPs. This was stressful to the HPs because even though they were required to work longer hours, they were getting less pay.

Signs of Burnout

There is no single accepted definition of burnout as a concept. The lack of a single accepted definition of the concept results from the fact that it is usually job-specific. For example, mental health workers, HPs, and the military could have different experiences with burnout. However, there are various distinguishing characteristics and measures of burnout. The widely accepted measures of burnout include the level of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. Therefore, burnout for HPs occurs when they have high levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization while exhibiting low levels of personal accomplishmentsADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”1432-1246″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Jalili”,”given”:”Mohammad”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Niroomand”,”given”:”Mahtab”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Hadavand”,”given”:”Fahimeh”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Zeinali”,”given”:”Kataun”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Fotouhi”,”given”:”Akbar”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2021″]]},”page”:”1-8″,”publisher”:”Springer”,”title”:”Burnout among healthcare professionals during COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study”,”type”:”article-journal”},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=b410b3dc-0680-4575-b511-0214f3250a5f”]},{“id”:”ITEM-2″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”1525-8610″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Tan”,”given”:”Benjamin Y Q”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Kanneganti”,”given”:”Abhiram”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Lim”,”given”:”Lucas J H”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Tan”,”given”:”Melanie”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Chua”,”given”:”Ying Xian”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Tan”,”given”:”Lifeng”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Sia”,”given”:”Ching Hui”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Denning”,”given”:”Max”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Goh”,”given”:”Ee Teng”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Purkayastha”,”given”:”Sanjay”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Journal of the American Medical Directors Association”,”id”:”ITEM-2″,”issue”:”12″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2020″]]},”page”:”1751-1758″,”publisher”:”Elsevier”,”title”:”Burnout and associated factors among health care workers in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”21″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=066a5bae-ddd9-4826-be15-b617e69ad54c”]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Jalili et al., 2021; Tan et al., 2020)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Jalili et al., 2021; Tan et al., 2020)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Jalili et al., 2021; Tan et al., 2020)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Jalili et al., 2021; Tan et al., 2020). High levels of cynicism may also accompany these three signs of burnout for HPs

.

Concerning the COVID-19 pandemic period, nurses, women, and frontline workers had the highest burnout measures. High levels of emotional exhaustion were likely caused by the high number of patients that the HPs were dealing with. Emotional intelligence is one of the requirements of effective HPs. When they continually have to exert themselves emotionally, they end up feeling emotionally exhausted at the end of the day. This also leads to feelings of depersonalization. Depersonalization is usually characterized by the HPs not identifying with their feelings and thoughtsADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”1432-1246″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Jalili”,”given”:”Mohammad”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Niroomand”,”given”:”Mahtab”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Hadavand”,”given”:”Fahimeh”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Zeinali”,”given”:”Kataun”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Fotouhi”,”given”:”Akbar”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2021″]]},”page”:”1-8″,”publisher”:”Springer”,”