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Cited by 76Global Health Workforce IssuesHealthcare Systems and ChallengesDisaster Response and Management

Health human resources challenges during COVID-19 pandemic; evidence of a qualitative study in a developing country

Open access
Yusefi, Ali Reza, Sharifi, Mehrdad, Nasabi, Narjes sadat, Rezabeigi Davarani, Esmat, Bastani, Peivand·2022·PLOS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0262887PMC PMC8786119
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Abstract

Background: One of the main forthcoming challenges of healthcare systems against preparedness and management of the pandemic is the challenge of procurement and recruitment of the human resources. This study is aimed to explore the health human resources challenges during COVID-19 pandemic in Iran. Methods: This qualitative content analysis study was conducted in 2020. The study population includes all the Iranian human resources managers affiliated in Universities of Medical Sciences, hospitals and health centers managers and the health networks managers all over the country. 23 participants were included via purposeful sampling considering the inclusion criteria and were interviewed individually. After 23 semi-structured interviews, data were saturated. Then the data were analyzed through content analysis approach applying MAXQDA 10. Results: Three main themes of “organizational challenges”, “legal challenges”, and “personal challenges” were explored as the main challenges of health human resources management during COVID-19. On the one hand, organizational challenges include restricted financial resources, compensation discrimination, staffing distinction points, imbalance in the workload, weak organizational coordination, inefficient inter-sectoral relationships, parallel decisions, inefficient distribution of the human resources, lack of applied education, lack of integrated health protocols, lack of appropriate evaluation of performance, employee turnover, lack of clear approaches for staffing, and shortage of specialized manpower, and on the other hand, the personal challenges include insufficient knowledge of the employees, psychological disorders, reduction of self-confidence, burnout, workload increase, reduced level of job satisfaction, effects of colleague and patients bereavement and unsafety sense against the work place. Finally, the legal challenges that mostly related to the governments laws and regulations include lack of protocols for continuous supportive services, inappropriate approaches and instructions for teleworking, and lack of alternative plans and regulations for the human resources. Conclusion: Organizational, legal and personal challenges are among three main challenges of health human resources management during COVID-19 pandemic. Serious attention to these challenges should be considered by health policymakers in order to be prepared for facing new probable outbreaks and managing the present condition. The integrated comprehensive planning of human resources management for COVID-19 along with supportive packages for the personnel can be helpful.

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  • The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated these challenges, highlighting the urgent need for scalable, accessible, and cost-effective interventions.

    “The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated these challenges, highlighting the urgent need for scalable, accessible, and cost-effective interventions [7].”

    From Generative AI Mental Health Chatbots as Therapeutic Tools: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Their Role in Reducing Mental Health Issues (2025) · cites this paper as [7]

    The Results (Personal challenge) describe increased workload and psychological problems among healthcare personnel during COVID-19, and the Conclusion calls for planning and supportive measures. The paper does not establish a need for interventions that are specifically scalable, accessible, and cost-effective; its findings concern health human resources rather than challenges generally. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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  1. [2]Farnoosh G, Alishiri G, Hosseini Zijoud S R, Dorostkar R, Jalali Farahani A. Understanding the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Based on Available Evidence—A Narrative Review. J Mil Med. 2020; 22 (1): 1– 11.
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Authors
Yusefi, A. R., Sharifi, M., Nasabi, N. S., Rezabeigi Davarani, E., & Bastani, P.
Affiliations
  • University of Jiroft (IR)
  • Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (IR)
Corresponding author
Bastani, Peivand
ORCID
Venue
PLOS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2022-01-24
Volume
17
Issue
1
Pages
e0262887
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0262887
PMC
PMC8786119
OpenAlex
W4206930562
Cited by
76
References
46
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 1
FWCI
20.51
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Shiraz University
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Emergency Medical Services › Global Health Workforce Issues
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare Systems and Challenges
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Emergency Medical Services › Disaster Response and Management
Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic, health workforce challenges, labor shortage, burnout, workload, employee turnover, remote work, health workforce planning
MeSH terms
COVID-19, Developing Countries, Health Workforce, Health Personnel, Humans, Iran, Personnel Turnover, Qualitative Research, Pandemics

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