Predictors of Burnout in Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Adriana Cotel, Florinda Golu, Anca Pantea Stoian, Mihai Dimitriu, Bogdan Socea, Cătălin Cîrstoveanu, Ana Maria Daviţoiu, Florentina Jacotă‐Alexe, Bogdan Oprea
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify the predictors of burnout in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from March to June in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, from employees of two Romanian hospitals. Five hundred and twenty-three healthcare workers completed a series of questionnaires that measured burnout, job demands, job resources, and personal resources. Among the respondents, 14.5% had a clinical level of exhaustion (the central component of burnout). Three job demands (work-family conflict, lack of preparedness/scope of practice, emotional demands), three job resources (training, professional development, and continuing education; supervision, recognition, and feedback; autonomy and control), and one personal resource (self-efficacy) were significant predictors of burnout, explaining together 37% of the variance in healthcare workers' burnout. Based on our results, psychological interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic for healthcare employees should focus primarily on these demands and resources.