Burn-out in the health workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic: opportunities for workplace and leadership approaches to improve well-being
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Burn-out is a long-standing problem among healthcare workers (HCWs) and leads to poorer quality and less safe patient care, lower patient satisfaction, absenteeism and reduced workforce retention. Crises such as the pandemic not only generate new challenges but also intensify existing workplace stresses and chronic workforce shortages. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the global health workforce is burnt-out and under immense pressure, with multiple individual, organisational and healthcare system drivers. METHOD: In this article, we examine how key organisational and leadership approaches can facilitate mental health support for HCWs and identify strategies to support HCWs that are critical for supporting workforce well-being during the pandemic. RESULTS: We identified 12 key approaches at the organisational and individual levels for healthcare leadership to support workforce well-being during the COVID-19 crisis. These approaches may inform leadership responses to future crises. CONCLUSION: Governments, healthcare organisations and leaders must invest and deliver long-term measures to value, support and retain the health workforce to preserve high-quality healthcare.
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Individuals who maintained social connections and prioritized self-care had lower rates of burnout and emotional exhaustion.
“Individuals who were able to maintain their social connections and prioritize self-care were found to have lower rates of burnout and emotional exhaustion (13, 14).”
From Evolution of burnout syndrome in Spanish healthcare professionals during and after the COVID-19 pandemic: psychosocial variables involved (2025) · cites this paper as [14]
In the Introduction’s ‘Workplace and leadership approaches to promote well-being’ section (page not provided), the paper says strategies for staying connected helped combat burn-out. It does not report that people who prioritized self-care had lower rates of burn-out or emotional exhaustion, or give a comparative rate for those who maintained social connections. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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- Authors
- Smallwood, N., Bismark, M., & Willis, K.
- Affiliations
- The Alfred Hospital (AU)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Victoria University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Smallwood, Natasha
- Venue
- BMJ Leader
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2023-03-10
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 178-181
- ISSN
- 2398-631X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC12171421
- OpenAlex
- W4323832109
- Cited by
- 43
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 2
- FWCI
- 15.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- BMJ Leader (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Victoria University Research Repository (Victoria University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Funders
- Royal Melbourne Hospital Foundation (NA)
- Lord Mayors Charitable Fund (NA)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Burnout
- Keywords
- burnout, healthcare workers, COVID-19 pandemic, employee well-being, healthcare leadership, organisational approach, mental health support, employee retention, crisis management, occupational stress
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, Burnout, Professional, Health Workforce, Humans, Leadership, Workplace, Pandemics
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