Nursing managers may improve nurses' awareness of job-related meaningfulness by focusing on meaning-centred feed-back and counselling and thereby strengthening perception of concern, enthusiasm, relevance, efficacy, and satisfaction regarding their caring behaviour.

Gender had a differential effect on perceived occupational stress indicating a need for gender-tailored preventive strategies. Age, working field, education, voluntarily occupational training during holidays and length of stay on job affect vulnerability for burnout in mental hospital staff.

Telephone emergency services play an important role in providing low-threshold, anonymous crisis intervention free of cost. The current study aims to examine the mental well-being and perceived stress level of counselors as well as the main topics of helpline callers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria. In the current study, 374 counselors were recruited within the Austrian nationwide organization TelefonSeelsorge during the second wave of COVID-19 infection in Austria. The mental well-being (WHO-5) and perceived stress-level (PSS-10) were assessed and counselors were asked about the frequency of different topics thematized by callers and changes compared to pre-pandemic times. Compared to a reference group of the Austrian general population, counselors experienced less stress (13.22 vs. 16.42) and higher mental well-being (66.26 vs. 57.36; p < 0.001). The most frequent topics during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria were loneliness and mental health. More calls were registered in 2020 compared to 2019 and especially the topics loneliness, mental health, professional activities and relationships were reported to be thematized more often during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the time before (p < 0.001). The results contribute to an understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on telephone crisis intervention.

We assessed psychotherapists’ and patients’ ratings of their subjective perception of meaning related to different areas of life before the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to the time during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a quantitative cross-sectional study, Austrian psychotherapists (N = 222) were recruited by e-mail, who in turn recruited their patients (N = 139). Therapists and patients were asked to rate the meaning of different areas of life before as well as during the COVID-19 crisis. The psychotherapists showed an overall higher rating of the importance of areas of life compared to their patients (p < 0.001). The rating of the importance of the domains of living was differently affected by the COVID-19 situation (p < 0.001). While the meaning of physical and mental health during COVID-19 was rated higher than before, the opposite was observed for work (p < 0.001). No differences were found for relationships and friends, as well as for hobbies. As no interactions between perspective (therapists vs. patients), area of life, and time point (before vs. during COVID-19) were observed, it can be concluded that the COVID-19 situation changed the subjective attribution of meaning concerning different aspects of life similarly in therapists as well as patients. While mental and physical health gained subjective importance, the opposite was observed for work.

Telephone emergency service (TES) consultants have been challenged even more since the beginning of the pandemic. How the COVID-19 situation and the associated increasing demand for TES services affect the well-being and stress of TES counselors has not been assessed so far. This longitudinal study examined mental well-being (WHO-5), perceived stress level (PSS-10), and experienced job-related meaningfulness (CERES) of TES counselors at two measurement points during the pandemic. From December 2020 to January 2021 (t1), N = 374 counselors were recruited within the Austrian nationwide organization “TelefonSeelsorge”. From those, N = 108 also participated one year later at t2. Neither well-being nor perceived stress differed significantly between t1 and t2. There was a decrease in job-related meaningfulness (from 5.46 at t1 to 5.34 at t2; p < 0.001). The consultants identified loneliness and mental health as the most common problems of helpline callers at both measurement points. The results confirm a stable level of stress and well-being during the pandemic in TES consultants. However, they also show a slight decrease in perceived job-related meaningfulness. Well-being of counselors should be watched closely, as they are an important part of the psychosocial healthcare system.