Mott David A, Arya Vibhuti, Bakken Brianne K, Doucette William R, Gaither Caroline, Gilson Aaron, Kreling David H, Schommer Jon C, Witry Matthew
University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Pharmacy, Madison, WI, USA.
St. John's University, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Queens, NY, USA.
Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2024 Dec 5;81(24):1252-1266. doi: 10.1093/ajhp/zxae229.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in health care workers experiencing temporary or permanent changes in employment due to layoffs, quits, and postpandemic increased job demand. Analyzing the association of the COVID-19 pandemic with employment changes and results of changes for practicing pharmacists and understanding the associations with demographic and work-related factors could inform practice, policy, and educational programs. This study aimed to explore the frequency, characteristics, and results of employment status changes (ESCs) experienced by pharmacists practicing pharmacy in March 2020 (ie, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic).
A descriptive, cross-sectional survey research design was used to collect data from a random sample of 93,990 licensed pharmacists in the United States. The study team developed an online survey questionnaire designed to assess the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on pharmacists' work and work-life. The survey items used for this study related to ESCs, work-life characteristics, work characteristics in March 2020 and 2022, and demographic variables. A total of 4947 usable responses were received between November 2022 and January 2023.
Overall, 36.4% of respondents reported experiencing an ESC and approximately 70% of those reporting an ESC reported experiencing just 1 ECS. Overall, 39.5% of respondents who experienced an ESC stopped working (ie, were unemployed) pursuant to an ESC. Respondents who experienced an ESC reported significantly lower levels of work exhaustion and interprofessional disengagement and significantly higher levels of professional fulfillment in their current employment than respondents that did not experience an ESC.
The overall increase in demand for workers in the health care sector appeared to provide opportunities for pharmacists, especially pharmacists with 1 to 10 years of experience, to change their employment situation, resulting in better work-life characteristics. Given projections of a pharmacist shortage, research, policy, and educational programs could determine the best practices to improve work settings and the work-life characteristics of practicing pharmacists to improve the health of the current pharmacist workforce.
2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行导致医护人员因裁员、辞职以及疫情后工作需求增加而经历就业的临时或永久性变化。分析COVID-19大流行与执业药师就业变化及变化结果之间的关联，并了解其与人口统计学和工作相关因素的关联，可为实践、政策和教育项目提供参考。本研究旨在探讨2020年3月（即COVID-19大流行开始时）从事药学工作的药师经历的就业状况变化（ESC）的频率、特征和结果。
采用描述性横断面调查研究设计，从美国93990名执业药师的随机样本中收集数据。研究团队开发了一份在线调查问卷，旨在评估COVID-19大流行对药师工作及工作与生活的影响。本研究使用的调查项目涉及就业状况变化、工作与生活特征、2020年3月和2022年的工作特征以及人口统计学变量。在2022年11月至2023年1月期间共收到4947份有效回复。
总体而言，36.4%的受访者报告经历了就业状况变化，其中约70%报告经历就业状况变化的受访者表示只经历了一次就业状况变化。总体而言，经历就业状况变化的受访者中有39.5%因就业状况变化而停止工作（即失业）。与未经历就业状况变化的受访者相比，经历就业状况变化的受访者报告的工作倦怠和跨专业脱节水平显著较低，而在当前工作中的职业成就感显著较高。
医疗保健行业对工人需求的总体增加似乎为药师，尤其是有1至10年经验的药师提供了改变就业状况的机会，从而带来更好的工作与生活特征。鉴于预计药师短缺，研究、政策和教育项目可确定最佳实践方法，以改善工作环境和执业药师的工作与生活特征，从而改善当前药师队伍的健康状况。
