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Cited by 54COVID-19 and Mental HealthOccupational Health and BurnoutHealthcare professionals’ stress and burnout

Mental Health Symptoms and Workplace Challenges among Australian Paramedics during the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Petrie, Katherine, Smallwood, Natasha, Pascoe, Amy, Willis, Karen·2022·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
DOI 10.3390/ijerph19021004PMC PMC8775775
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Abstract

Background: Paramedics are vital to the health system response to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the pressures on this workforce have been intense and challenging. This study reports on mental health symptoms and the working environment among Australian paramedics during the COVID-19 pandemic and explores their experiences of work and wellbeing during this time. Methods: An anonymous, online survey of frontline healthcare workers examined work environment, psychological wellbeing, and contained four open-ended qualitative items. Using a mixed method approach, quantitative data were analysed descriptively and qualitative data were analysed using content analysis. Results: This paper reports findings from 95 paramedics who provided complete quantitative data and 85 paramedics who provided free-text responses to at least one qualitative item. Objectively measured mental health symptoms were common among paramedics, and almost two thirds of paramedics self-reported experiencing burnout. Qualitative analysis highlighted key issues of safety and risk in the workplace, uncertainty and upheaval at work and at home, and lack of crisis preparedness. Qualitative analysis revealed four themes; ‘the pervasiveness of COVID-19 disruptions across all life domains’; ‘the challenges of widespread disruption at work’; ‘risk, uncertainty and feeling unsafe at work’, and ‘the challenges of pandemic (un)preparedness across the health system’. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in considerable occupational disruption for paramedics and was associated with significant negative impacts on mental health. Findings emphasise the need for more adaptive working conditions, mental health support for paramedics, and enhanced crisis preparedness across the health system for future crises.

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  • During the COVID-19 pandemic, only 66.3% of Australian paramedics in the Petrie et al. study believed their wellbeing was actively supported by their workplace, leaving 33.6% neither agreeing nor disagreeing or disagreeing/strongly disagreeing.

    “during this time, only 66.3% of paramedics in this study believed that their wellbeing was being actively supported by their workplace leaving 33.6% stating they neither agree or disagree; or disagree/strongly disagree to the fact.”

    From Understanding the Occupational Factors that Influence Paramedic Health and Wellbeing (2024) · cites this paper as Petrie et al., 2022

    The Results (section 3.3; page unavailable) report that many paramedics felt their mental health needs were not supported by their organisation, and the Discussion (section 4; page unavailable) describes a general lack of workplace support. Neither section reports that 66.3% felt actively supported or that 33.6% gave neutral or negative responses; searches for those figures and the proposed survey wording found no matching passage. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Isolation from friends and family during the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected paramedic wellbeing.

    “These statistics are in addition to isolation from friends and family during this time, which was also seen to negatively effect on paramedic wellbeing (Petrie et al., 2022).”

    From Understanding the Occupational Factors that Influence Paramedic Health and Wellbeing (2024) · cites this paper as Petrie et al., 2022

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Petrie, K., Smallwood, N., Pascoe, A., & Willis, K.
Affiliations
  • Black Dog Institute (AU)
  • The Alfred Hospital (AU)
  • Victoria University (AU)
Corresponding author
Willis, Karen
ORCID
Venue
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2022-01-17
Volume
19
Issue
2
Pages
1004
ISSN
1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/ijerph19021004
PMC
PMC8775775
OpenAlex
W4205885650
Cited by
54
References
12
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 8
FWCI
11.42
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Victoria University Research Repository (Victoria University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Lord Mayor's Charitable Fund (Proactive Grant)
  • Melbourne Health foundation (Out of round funding)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Burnout
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
Keywords
paramedics, psychiatric symptoms, burnout, COVID-19 pandemic, frontline health workers, occupational safety, occupational stress, crisis preparedness, psychological well-being, mental health support
MeSH terms
COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Allied Health Personnel, Australia, Health Personnel, Humans, Mental Health, Workplace, Pandemics

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