Beliefs, attitudes and feelings about work among healthcare workers and teachers during the fifth wave of COVID-19

Abstract

Objective To compare the beliefs, attitudes and feelings about work of healthcare professionals (HCPs) and teachers living in the Canary Islands (Spain) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods The study had two parts. In Part 1, the Delphi technique was used to adapt a questionnaire. Part 2 was a cross-sectional, comparative study, performed from August 31st to October 25th, 2021 using the questionnaire online distributed to samples of HCPs and teachers. The questionnaire had three dimensions each separated into three sections (i.e., beliefs [coping ability, prevention and organisation]; attitudes [risks, commitments, and obligations]; feelings about work [burnout, support and work satisfaction]). Results In total 1423 questionnaires were available for analysis, 640 from teaching staff and 783 from HCPs. Significant differences were found in eight of the nine sections. HCPs had a more positive attitude towards work compared with teachers, but had more negative beliefs and feelings about work. In addition, by comparison with teachers, HCPs were more committed to their work, more predisposed to take risks and fulfill their obligations, even though our sample of teachers felt more supported and satisfied at work. Conclusions Our results show that the pandemic caused a greater negative impact on job satisfaction of HCPs compared with teachers because they felt less supported by their superiors, which had a greater impact on their psychological health.