Burnout symptoms among physicians and nurses before, during and after COVID-19 care

OBJECTIVE

this study evaluated burnout symptoms among physicians and nurses before, during and after COVID-19 care.

METHOD

a cross-sectional comparative study in the Pulmonary Care unit of a tertiary-level public hospital. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was used.

RESULTS

280 surveys were distributed across three periods: before (n=80), during (n=105) and after (n=95) COVID-19 care; 172 surveys were returned. The response rates were 57.5%, 64.8% and 61.1%, respectively. The prevalence of severe burnout was 30.4%, 63.2% and 34.5% before, during and after COVID-19 care (p<0.001). Emotional exhaustion (p<0.001) and depersonalization (p=0.002) symptoms were more prevalent among nurses than among physicians. Severe burnout was more prevalent in women, nurses and night shift staff.

CONCLUSION

the high prevalence of burnout doubled in the first peak of hospital admissions and returned to pre-pandemic levels one month after COVID-19 care ended. Burnout varied by gender, shift and occupation, with nurses among the most vulnerable groups. Focus on early assessment and mitigation strategies are required to support nurses not only during crisis but permanently.

Occupational risk perception and its associated factors among nurses and physicians in Peruvian health facilities

Introduction

A high perceived risk is related to lower rates of occupational accidents in the health personnel.

Objectives

To determine the levels of occupational risk perception and its associated factors in nurses and physicians from health facilities in Peru during 2016.

Methods

An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted with secondary data from the National Survey of Health Users Satisfaction (Encuesta Nacional de Satisfacción de Usuarios en Salud) 2016. The problem variable was the occupational risk perception, and sociodemographic variables and variables related to occupational risk exposure were included as possible associated factors. Crude and adjusted ordinal logistic regression models were developed to determine the associated factors. All estimates were weighted according to the National Survey of Health Users Satisfaction 2016 complex sampling.

Results

Levels of perceived occupational risk were similar between nurses and physicians. Weekly working hours, having a previous work accident, and receiving protective equipment were found to be associated with occupational risk perception in nurses. Age, institution of origin, having a specialty, suffering from a chronic disease, and receiving occupational risk training were found to be associated with occupational risk perception in physicians.

Conclusions

In Peru, the levels of occupational risk perception in nurses and physicians are similar. However, the associated factors differ according to the profession. These findings may contribute to the norms or laws related to the occupational safety of health personnel.

Children's and parents' perceptions concerning surgical attire: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE

To review the literature about children's and parent's perceptions on surgical attire.

DATA SOURCE

A systematic search was conducted in the databases EMBASE, Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences (LILACS), PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus and Web of Science. Grey literature was searched on Google Scholar, Open Grey and ProQuest Dissertations, and Theses Database.

DATA SYNTHESIS

A total of 2,567 papers were identified. After a two-phase selection, 15 studies were included in narrative synthesis. Children favored wearing white coats in five of the nine included studies (55.5% [95%CI 48.3-62.7]; p=1.00). With respect to parents' preferences, results of vote counting showed that in 11 of 15 included studies, they favored physicians wearing white coats (73.3% [95%CI 67.9-78.6]; p=0.11).

CONCLUSIONS

Children and parents have preferred physicians to wear a white coat with a very low certainty of evidence.

[Reducing stress levels and anxiety in primary-care physicians through training and practice of a mindfulness meditation technique]

PURPOSE

To check the effectiveness of a mindfulness development meditation technique on stress and anxiety in a group of primary-care physicians.

DESIGN

Quasi-experimental with pretest/posttest/follow-up measurements in a control group and an experimental group. SITE: University of Almeria.

PARTICIPANTS

38 primary-care physicians enrolled in a Teaching Aptitude Course (CAP).

INTERVENTION

An experimental group and a control group were formed with 19 participants in each. The experimental group took a psycho-educational meditation program for training and practice in mindfulness.

MEASUREMENT

The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Strain Questionnaire and the State-Trait Anxiety Questionnaire were used to measure stress and anxiety levels.

RESULTS

A comparative statistical analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney non-parametric U test, finding a significant reduction in all the primary-care physician stress and anxiety variables in the experimental group compared to the control group in pretest-posttest and follow-up tests.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study support the effectiveness of mindfulness development meditation techniques in decreasing stress and anxiety in primary-care physicians. Nevertheless, the study shows various limitations that would have to be corrected in successive studies to bring more validity to the results.

The experience of infectologists faced with death and dying among their patients over the course of the AIDS epidemic in the city of São Paulo: qualitative study

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE

With the emergence of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in 1981, infectologists' care practices went through great changes. The objective of this study was to describe and analyze the experiences of infectologists in dealing with death and dying among their patients, over the course of the AIDS epidemic in the city of São Paulo.

DESIGN AND SETTING

A qualitative approach was used. Twenty infectologists from five hospitals that treat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS patients in the municipality of São Paulo were interviewed.

METHODS

The sample was formed through the snowball process. The sample size was determined using the saturation criterion. To analyze the material obtained from the interviews, the procedure of thematic analysis was used. This consisted of finding the core meaning relating to the study objective, within the set of materials obtained.

RESULTS

Analysis of the material obtained from the interviews led to three main themes: 1. The initial context of AIDS and its impact on infectologists; 2. Modifications to the infectologists' attachments to patients after the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART); 3. Coping with death and dying.

CONCLUSIONS

This study shows the importance of considering the distress, emotional overload and adaptive mechanisms relating to death and dying among patients, both in training and in professional practice.

[Burnout in primary care doctors of the province of cáceres]

OBJECTIVES

To analyse the degree of professional burnout in primary care doctors from our province and the effect of various factors.Design. Descriptive and analytic cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Primary care (PC) in the province.

PARTICIPANTS

All the PC doctors in the province of Cáceres (n=255).

MAIN MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS

Self-administered anonymous questionnaire: the Maslach Burnout Inventory that evaluates Depersonalisation (DP), Self-esteem (SE), and Emotional Exhaustion (EE); social and personal variables, work data, personal questions and measures taken if there was work stress. Student s t test, ANOVA (means), and Chi-square or Fisher test (percentages) were used. 157 valid questionnaires were returned (62% response rate). Mean age was 41.5 years old 7.2; 75% were male, 80.2% married, 73.2% had tenure, 48.9% worked in towns, and their mean case-load was 40.5 16.5 patients/day. Mean values found were: DP, 8.3 5.8; SE, 35.2 8.4; EE, 22 11.3; 65.8% scored high on one of the three. For EE mean scores were significantly higher in men, doctors with tenure, in towns, those with >10 years seniority or who saw >40 patients a day. 50% had had psycho-physical disorders in the previous 3 months; 33% withstood a lot of bureaucracy; both groups had <SE and >EE averages. Dedicating <2 hours a day to leisure was associated with >EE; and being a tutor with a significantly higher level of burnout. Disorders in the family or social/work sphere were associated with high levels of DP and EE (P<.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Like other studies, we found a moderate level of burnout in our sample. Seniority, social/labour or family conflict, and certain personal and job characteristics were associated with high burnout.