Serrão Carla, Martins Vera, Ribeiro Carla, Maia Paulo, Pinho Rita, Teixeira Andreia, Castro Luísa, Duarte Ivone
School of Education, Polytechnic of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Center for Research and Innovation in Education (inED), Porto, Portugal.
Front Psychol. 2022 Jan 31;13:814109. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.814109. eCollection 2022.
In the last 2 weeks of January 2021, Portugal was the worst country in the world in incidence of infections and deaths due to COVID-19. As a result, the pressure on the healthcare system increased exponentially, exceeding its capacities and leaving hospitals in near collapse. This scenario caused multiple constraints, particularly for hospital medical staff. Previous studies conducted at different moments during the pandemic reported that COVID-19 has had significant negative impacts on healthcare workers' psychological health, including stress, anxiety, depression, burnout, post-traumatic stress symptoms, and sleep disturbances. However, there are many uncertainties regarding the professional quality of life of hospital nurses and physicians. To address gaps in previous research on secondary traumatic stress, we focused on healthcare workers working in hospitals affected by a major traumatic event: the third wave of COVID-19.
The aim of the present study was to identify the contribution of personal and work-related contextual variables (gender, age, parental status, occupation, years of experience, working with patients affected by COVID-19) on professional quality of life of healthcare workers.
Cross-sectional study with a web-based questionnaire given to physicians and nurses working in a hospital setting. A total of 853 healthcare professionals (276 physicians and 586 nurses; median age 37 years old) participated in the survey assessing professional quality of life compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress, and burnout. Factors of professional quality of life were assessed using regression analysis.
Most of the participants showed moderate (80%; = 684) or high (18%; = 155) levels of compassion satisfaction, whereas the majority of them experienced moderate levels of burnout (72%; = 613) and secondary traumatic stress (69%; = 592). The analyzed variables demonstrated no differences between professionals who were directly or not involved in the care of COVID-19 patients. Parental status was found to be a significant factor in compassion satisfaction. Female gender was significantly associated with more susceptibility to secondary traumatization. Factors that may potentially contribute to burnout include years of professional experience and the number of work hours per week.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a new challenge for the healthcare system. Burnout and secondary traumatic stress can lead to medical errors and impact standards of patient care, particularly compromising compassionate care. It is therefore recommended that hospitals develop psychoeducational initiatives to support professionals in dealing with barriers to compassion.
在2021年1月的最后两周，葡萄牙是全球新冠病毒感染率和死亡率最高的国家。因此，医疗系统面临的压力呈指数级增长，超出了其承受能力，医院几近崩溃。这种情况造成了多重限制，尤其是对医院医护人员而言。此前在疫情不同阶段进行的研究表明，新冠病毒对医护人员的心理健康产生了重大负面影响，包括压力、焦虑、抑郁、职业倦怠、创伤后应激症状和睡眠障碍。然而，关于医院护士和医生的职业生活质量仍存在许多不确定性。为了填补此前关于继发性创伤应激研究的空白，我们聚焦于在受重大创伤事件影响的医院工作的医护人员：新冠疫情第三波。
本研究旨在确定个人和工作相关背景变量（性别、年龄、父母身份、职业、工作年限、与新冠患者接触情况）对医护人员职业生活质量的影响。
采用横断面研究方法，通过网络问卷对在医院工作的医生和护士进行调查。共有853名医护人员（276名医生和586名护士；中位年龄37岁）参与了此次评估职业生活质量、同情满足感、继发性创伤应激和职业倦怠的调查。使用回归分析评估职业生活质量的影响因素。
大多数参与者表现出中等（80%；n = 684）或较高（18%；n = 155）水平的同情满足感，而大多数人经历了中等程度的职业倦怠（72%；n = 613）和继发性创伤应激（69%；n = 592）。分析的变量显示，直接或未直接参与新冠患者护理的专业人员之间没有差异。父母身份被发现是同情满足感的一个重要因素。女性性别与更容易受到继发性创伤显著相关。可能导致职业倦怠的因素包括专业工作年限和每周工作时长。
新冠疫情给医疗系统带来了新的挑战。职业倦怠和继发性创伤应激可能导致医疗失误并影响患者护理标准，尤其会损害关怀护理。因此，建议医院开展心理教育活动，以支持专业人员应对关怀护理方面的障碍。
