Hospital Physicians’ Perspectives on Occupational Stress During COVID-19: a Qualitative Analysis from Two US Cities

Buchbinder, Mara; Browne, Alyssa; Jenkins, Tania M.; Berlinger, Nancy; Buchbinder, Liza

doi:10.1007/s11606-022-07848-z

Cited by 13 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Public hospitals, and those in poor neighborhoods felt that they received less PPE and other crucial resources, forcing physicians to make potentially life-effecting compromises. 15 Many physicians felt that leaders were more concerned with public image management than the needs on the floor. And on top of this, strict policies regarding testing and quarantine extended stress into personal and family life.…”

Section: Impact Of Covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…And on top of this, strict policies regarding testing and quarantine extended stress into personal and family life. 15 Indeed, a study by the American Medical Association (AMA), reported that nearly half all of physicians had experienced increased burnout during COVID-19. 16 Compared to the prepandemic statistic, there was a 7% increase.…”

Section: Impact Of Covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…And those working in emergency medicine and primary care are also at higher risk of burnout. 11,15,19,20 Earlier surveys have noted that professional and institutional factors have even greater influence than personal factors. Drivers include excessive workloads, inefficient work processes, paperwork, perceived lack of control over job duties, medical uncertainty, leadership style, and overall culture.…”

Section: Contributors and Possible Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Drivers include excessive workloads, inefficient work processes, paperwork, perceived lack of control over job duties, medical uncertainty, leadership style, and overall culture. 11,15 Health care organizations should also consider systemic issues that contribute to burnout (work hours, poor leadership, worklife balance). The American Society of Health Risk Management emphasizes that physicians should not be expected to assume responsibility for system-wide problems, over which they have only limited control.…”

Section: Contributors and Possible Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, the crisis accentuated disparities between institutions. Public hospitals, and those in poor neighborhoods felt that they received less PPE and other crucial resources, forcing physicians to make potentially life‐effecting compromises 15 . Many physicians felt that leaders were more concerned with public image management than the needs on the floor.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Administrators’ preparedness to address physician burnout before and during COVID‐19

Schoolcraft

Brown

Xie

2023

J of Healthc Risk Manag

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Occupational burnout has become widespread. The syndrome can be especially harmful in health care settings, affecting clinicians, organizational effectiveness, and patient safety. Certain approaches have proven helpful in some cases in combatting the syndrome. The coronavirus pandemic presented physicians with unique challenges, which appeared to have magnified work stress This national survey specifically explored interventions used by health care leaders to reduce burnout and whether these interventions proved effective during a pandemic. We also discuss effective and appropriate organizational measures to reduce physician burnout and its associated risks during crises.

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Section: Impact Of Covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Impact Of Covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Contributors and Possible Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Contributors and Possible Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Administrators’ preparedness to address physician burnout before and during COVID‐19

Schoolcraft

Brown

Xie

2023

J of Healthc Risk Manag

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Multidimensional stressors and protective factors shaping physicians' work environments and work‐related well‐being in two large US cities during COVID‐19

Buchbinder,

Jenkins,

Staley

et al. 2023

American J Industrial Med

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IntroductionClinician burnout and poor work‐related well‐being reached a critical inflection point during the COVID‐19 pandemic. This article applies a novel conceptual model informed by the Total Worker Health® approach to identify and describe multilevel stressors and protective factors that affected frontline physicians' work environments and work‐related well‐being.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative study of hospital‐based physicians from multiple hospital types in Los Angeles and Miami who cared for COVID‐19 patients. Semistructured interviews lasting 60–90 min were conducted over Zoom. Interview transcripts were thematically coded using Dedoose qualitative software.ResultsThe final sample of 66 physicians worked in 20 hospitals. Stressors in the social, political, and economic environment included dealing with the politicization of COVID‐19, including vaccine hesitancy; state and federal governmental COVID‐19 policies and messaging; and shifting CDC guidance. Employment and labor pattern stressors included the national nursing shortage, different policies for paid time off, furloughs, reduced pay, and layoffs. Organizational‐level stressors included institutional policies, staffing constraints and high patient volume (i.e., increased number of cases and longer lengths of stay), and perceived poor leadership. At the individual worker level, stressors included concerns about viral transmission to family, strained personal relationships, and work‐life fit, particularly for those with young children. Respondents identified promising protective factors at multiple levels, including responsive state leadership, job security, concrete opportunities to provide input into institutional policy, strong leadership and communication, and feeling cared for by one's institution.ConclusionFindings support a multi‐level strategy that acknowledges internal organizational and external factors shaping clinicians' work‐related well‐being, consistent with the Total Worker Health® approach.

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The impact of health inequities on physicians' occupational well‐being during COVID‐19: A qualitative analysis from four US cities

Browne

Jenkins

Berlinger

et al. 2023

Journal of Hospital Medicine

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Objective The aim of this study is to describe frontline physicians' perceptions of the impact of racial–ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in COVID‐19 infection and mortality on their occupational well‐being. Methods One hundred and forty‐five qualitative, semistructured interviews were conducted between February 2021 and June 2022 with hospital medicine, emergency medicine, pulmonary/critical care, and palliative care physicians caring for hospitalized COVID‐19 patients in four US cities. Results Physicians reported encountering COVID‐related health disparities and inequities at the societal, organizational, and individual levels. Encountering these inequities, in turn, contributed to stress among frontline physicians, whose concerns revealed how structural conditions both shaped COVID disparities and constrained their ability to protect populations at risk from poor outcomes. Physicians reported feeling complicit in the perpetuation of inequities or helpless to mitigate observed inequities and experienced feelings of grief, guilt, moral distress, and burnout. Conclusions Health inequities are an under‐acknowledged source of physicians' occupational stress that requires solutions beyond the clinical context.

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Hospital Physicians’ Perspectives on Occupational Stress During COVID-19: a Qualitative Analysis from Two US Cities

Cited by 13 publications

References 54 publications

Administrators’ preparedness to address physician burnout before and during COVID‐19

Administrators’ preparedness to address physician burnout before and during COVID‐19

Multidimensional stressors and protective factors shaping physicians' work environments and work‐related well‐being in two large US cities during COVID‐19

The impact of health inequities on physicians' occupational well‐being during COVID‐19: A qualitative analysis from four US cities

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