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Cited by 322Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnoutCOVID-19 and Mental HealthOccupational Health and Burnout

Burnout among healthcare workers in the COVID 19 era: a review of the existing literature

Open access
Leo, Carlo Giacomo, Sabina, Saverio, Tumolo, Maria Rosaria, Bodini, Antonella, Ponzini, Giuseppe, Sabato, Eugenio, Mincarone, Pierpaolo·2021·Frontiers in Public Health
DOI 10.3389/fpubh.2021.750529PMC PMC8585922
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Abstract

In the current period of global public health crisis due to the COVID-19, healthcare workers are more exposed to physical and mental exhaustion - burnout - for the torment of difficult decisions, the pain of losing patients and colleagues, and the risk of infection, for themselves and their families. The very high number of cases and deaths, and the probable future "waves" raise awareness of these challenging working conditions and the need to address burnout by identifying possible solutions. Measures have been suggested to prevent or reduce burnout at individual level (physical activity, balanced diet, good sleep hygiene, family support, meaningful relationships, reflective practices and small group discussions), organizational level (blame-free environments for sharing experiences and advices, broad involvement in management decisions, multi-disciplinary psychosocial support teams, safe areas to withdraw quickly from stressful situations, adequate time planning, social support), and cultural level (involvement of healthcare workers in the development, implementation, testing, and evaluation of measures against burnout). Although some progress has been made in removing the barrier to psychological support to cope with work-related stress, a cultural change is still needed for the stigma associated with mental illness. The key recommendation is to address the challenges that the emergency poses and to aggregate health, well-being and behavioral science expertise through long term researches with rigorous planning and reporting to drive the necessary cultural change and the improvement of public health systems.

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Crossref · 10.3389/fpubh.2021.750529

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  • The exponential increase in emotional exhaustion at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in HCW has been attributed to increased workload, lack of resources, fear of contagion, and generalized uncertainty.

    “This exponential increase in emotional exhaustion at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in HCW has been attributed to increased workload, lack of resources, fear of contagion, and generalized uncertainty (49–51).”

    From Evolution of burnout syndrome in Spanish healthcare professionals during and after the COVID-19 pandemic: psychosocial variables involved (2025) · cites this paper as [50]

    The Introduction (page unavailable) describes pandemic-related resource shortages, heavy demands, infection risk, and physical and mental exhaustion among healthcare workers. “Who Is Affected” (page unavailable) also associates burnout with work overload and fear of exposure or transmission. The paper does not establish an exponential increase in emotional exhaustion at the pandemic’s onset or specifically attribute it to generalized uncertainty. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • Emotional exhaustion is initially the most affected component of burnout.

    “it is initially the most affected component (49–51), as our findings show.”

    From Evolution of burnout syndrome in Spanish healthcare professionals during and after the COVID-19 pandemic: psychosocial variables involved (2025) · cites this paper as [50]

    The Introduction reports a higher pooled prevalence for emotional exhaustion (34.4%) than for depersonalization (25.8%) or reduced personal accomplishment (23.5%) among practicing physicians. That supports calling it the most affected component in those estimates, but the review does not establish that it is affected *initially* or first. (LLM, conf=0.87)

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [3]Kunda G. Engineering Culture. Control and Commitment in a High-Tech Corporation Revised and Expanded Edition Temple University Press. (2006).

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Authors
Leo, C. G., Sabina, S., Tumolo, M. R., Bodini, A., Ponzini, G., Sabato, E., & Mincarone, P.
Affiliations
  • National Research Council (IT)
  • Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies (IT)
  • Ospedale A. Perrino (IT)
Corresponding author
Tumolo, Maria Rosaria
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Public Health
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2021-10-29
Volume
9
Pages
750529-750529
ISSN
2296-2565 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fpubh.2021.750529
PMC
PMC8585922
OpenAlex
W3209116266
Cited by
303
References
48
Citations by year
2026: 27 · 2025: 52 · 2024: 75 · 2023: 83 · 2022: 65 · 2021: 1
FWCI
11.57
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
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, occupational stress, burnout prevention, psychological support, mental health stigma, organizational culture, social support, sleep hygiene, reflective practice
MeSH terms
COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Adaptation, Psychological, Burnout, Professional, Health Personnel, Humans

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