Snyder Rachel L, White Katelyn A, Anderson Laura E, Cochran Ronda L
Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
PLoS One. 2025 Jun 4;20(6):e0319390. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0319390. eCollection 2025.
Healthcare worker burnout and turnover are urgent issues that negatively impact workers and have the potential to impact patient care. To highlight potential factors leading to burnout and turnover among healthcare workers, focus groups were conducted with nurses and physicians who previously worked in acute care settings during the COVID-19 pandemic but have since left their careers providing direct patient care.
During May and June of 2023, voluntary focus groups were held over Zoom with acute care nurses and physicians who left their careers providing direct patient care. The focus groups each lasted approximately 30 minutes and included 8 or 9 participants. Open-ended prompts used to guide the discussions focused on what led participants to leave their positions and what would need to change for them to return to a role providing direct patient care. The discussions were coded by a team of coders, and then codes were grouped into corresponding themes. Participant demographics were summarized by role.
The 49 focus group participants included 24 physicians (49%) and 25 nurses (51%). Seven convergent themes emerged during the discussions, including the mental toll of their positions, inadequate staffing, the current state of the healthcare system overall, the ways that the COVID-19 pandemic specifically made their jobs harder, support from facility administration, respect and value for their positions, and pay and incentives.
Focus group discussions held with physicians and nurses highlighted multiple factors that led to their decisions to leave their careers providing direct patient care. While more research is needed on the efficacy of specific interventions to address the issues highlighted by participants, various tools and resources are available from multiple organizations to begin to support healthcare facilities in improving the experiences of healthcare workers with the goal of preventing burnout and turnover.
医护人员的职业倦怠和离职是紧迫问题，对工作人员产生负面影响，并有可能影响患者护理。为了突出导致医护人员职业倦怠和离职的潜在因素，我们与护士和医生进行了焦点小组讨论，这些医护人员曾在新冠疫情期间在急症护理环境中工作，但后来离开了直接提供患者护理的职业。
2023年5月和6月期间，通过Zoom平台与离开直接提供患者护理职业的急症护理护士和医生举行了自愿参加的焦点小组讨论。每个焦点小组持续约30分钟，包括8或9名参与者。用于指导讨论的开放式提示重点关注是什么导致参与者离职，以及需要做出哪些改变才能让他们回到直接提供患者护理的岗位。讨论由一组编码员进行编码，然后将代码分组为相应的主题。参与者的人口统计学特征按角色进行了总结。
49名焦点小组参与者包括24名医生（49%）和25名护士（51%）。讨论中出现了七个趋同的主题，包括工作岗位带来的精神压力、人员配备不足、医疗系统的整体现状、新冠疫情具体使他们工作更困难的方式、机构管理层的支持、对他们岗位的尊重和重视，以及薪酬和激励措施。
与医生和护士进行的焦点小组讨论突出了导致他们决定离开直接提供患者护理职业的多个因素。虽然需要更多研究来探讨解决参与者所强调问题的具体干预措施的效果，但多个组织提供了各种工具和资源，以开始支持医疗机构改善医护人员的工作体验，目标是预防职业倦怠和离职。
