Predictors of Burnout in Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Healthcare (Basel). 2021 Mar 9;9(3):304. doi: 10.3390/healthcare9030304.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the predictors of burnout in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from March to June in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, from employees of two Romanian hospitals. Five hundred and twenty-three healthcare workers completed a series of questionnaires that measured burnout, job demands, job resources, and personal resources. Among the respondents, 14.5% had a clinical level of exhaustion (the central component of burnout). Three job demands (work-family conflict, lack of preparedness/scope of practice, emotional demands), three job resources (training, professional development, and continuing education; supervision, recognition, and feedback; autonomy and control), and one personal resource (self-efficacy) were significant predictors of burnout, explaining together 37% of the variance in healthcare workers' burnout. Based on our results, psychological interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic for healthcare employees should focus primarily on these demands and resources.

Keywords: COVID-19; burnout; health personnel; pandemics.