Department of Occupational, Economic, and Social Psychology, University of Vienna, Wien, Austria
Department of Psychology, PFH Private University of Applied Sciences, Göttingen, Germany.
BMJ Open. 2024 Mar 12;14(3):e076712. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-076712.
Mental health and well-being of healthcare staff were majorly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Little attention has been devoted to the role employers could choose to play in mitigating long-term negative consequences and how effective organisational measures taken were perceived by the individual healthcare workers. This study aims to investigate (1) whether and how healthcare professionals' mental health has changed from the second to the third pandemic year, (2) whether differences between professional groups (physicians, nurses, paramedics) identified in previous studies persisted and (3) how job demands and resources, for example, work culture and employers' measures, impacted this situation.
The study employs an observational, cross-sectional design, using an online survey.
The study was conducted online from mid-June to mid-August 2022 among healthcare staff in state-run and private healthcare facilities, such as doctor's practices, hospitals and paramedic organisations, in Germany and Austria (n=421).
We measured psychological strain using an ICD-10-based symptom checklist, as well as subjective strain and importance of stressors using self-report questions. The ICD-10 was the 10th version of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, a widely used standardized diagnostic manual.
Psychological strain stayed relatively consistent, with nursing staff suffering the most. While the job demands participants felt most affected by were structural issues (eg, staff shortages), employers were far more likely to be perceived as taking action against pandemic-specific job demands (eg, lack of protective gear). Psychological strain was lowest when staff perceived employers' actions as effective. Only 60% of those with severe enough symptoms to require psychological help had intentions of seeking such help, which is in line with past studies. This help-seeking hesitancy was also dependent on different facets of perceived work culture.
Healthcare staff and nursing staff in particular continue to suffer in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, while employers were perceived as taking action against pandemic-specific job demands, pre-existing job demands causing stress and psychological strain for staff have remained uncombatted.
医疗保健工作者的心理健康和福祉受到 COVID-19 大流行的严重影响。人们很少关注雇主可以选择在减轻长期负面影响方面发挥的作用，以及个人医疗保健工作者如何看待组织采取的有效措施。本研究旨在调查：（1）医护人员的心理健康状况是否以及如何从大流行第二年到第三年发生变化；（2）先前研究中确定的专业群体（医生、护士、辅助医疗人员）之间的差异是否持续存在；（3）工作需求和资源（例如工作文化和雇主的措施）如何影响这种情况。
本研究采用观察性、横断面设计，使用在线调查。
该研究于 2022 年 6 月中旬至 8 月中旬在德国和奥地利的国有和私营医疗保健机构（如医生诊所、医院和辅助医疗组织）的医疗保健人员中在线进行（n=421）。
我们使用基于 ICD-10 的症状检查表来衡量心理压力，以及使用自我报告问题来衡量主观压力和压力源的重要性。ICD-10 是国际疾病分类第 10 版，是一种广泛使用的标准化诊断手册。
心理压力相对保持一致，护理人员受影响最大。虽然参与者感受到的最受影响的工作需求是结构性问题（例如人员短缺），但雇主更有可能被视为针对大流行特定的工作需求采取行动（例如缺乏防护装备）。当员工认为雇主的行动有效时，心理压力最低。只有 60%的症状严重到需要心理帮助的人有寻求这种帮助的意愿，这与过去的研究一致。这种寻求帮助的犹豫也取决于不同方面的感知工作文化。
在 COVID-19 大流行之后，医疗保健工作者，特别是护理人员继续受苦。然而，虽然雇主被认为针对大流行特定的工作需求采取了行动，但导致员工压力和心理压力的先前存在的工作需求仍然没有得到解决。
