More than half of healthcare workers have suffered burnout since the start of the pandemic, according to a new study from the Montreal Heart Institute.
The study aimed to examine the main factors associated with burnout among healthcare workers during the pandemic. Three months after the start of the pandemic, the percentage of healthcare workers experiencing burnout was 52% among participants.
By comparison, the depletion rate before the pandemic was around 30%.
“We have just mentioned that there is distress and that occupational health issues exist. They were also there before the pandemic, but they have increased, and the study allows us to speak about it, affirmed the head of the study, Judith Brouillette, psychiatrist, professor, researcher and head of the department of psychiatry of the ‘Montreal Heart Institute.
Psychological distress
Self-reported psychological questionnaires also revealed that 24% of participants had high symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, 23%, anxiety, and 11%, depression.
I was surprised to see how painful people were.
The DD Judith Brouillette, psychiatrist, professor, researcher and head of the department of psychiatry at the Montreal Heart Institute
According to the study, resilience and organizational support are the two factors allowing a major reduction in the risks of burnout and psychological distress.
Resilience is the ability to overcome events, obstacles and negative emotions. “People who have more resilience will feel that they have a capacity to adapt and experience a negative emotion, not to be discouraged and even to use it as a lever”, argued the DD Scrambler.
Perceived organizational support describes how the worker feels their organization takes into account their interests, opinions, values and well-being. “Organizational support was expected to have an effect on burnout, but what surprised me was that it is also protective of mental and psychological health,” said Dr.D Scrambler.
What can be done to improve the mental health of healthcare workers?
There is no simple solution to this problem, but what we can understand is that individual and organizational involvement can lead to better psychological health at work.
The DD Judith Brouillette, psychiatrist, professor, researcher and head of the department of psychiatry at the Montreal Heart Institute
The next results of the study will come from the analysis of the survey carried out 12 months after the start of the pandemic. This work will be carried out over the next few months.
“It confirms what we are observing”
The Interprofessional Health Federation of Quebec is not surprised by the results. “It confirms what we have been observing for months with our members. We see the exhaustion of our troops and, this time, it is quantified ”, affirmed Isabelle Groulx, vice-president responsible for health and safety at work.
“We see that burnout was already high before the pandemic, and there has been an increase of 22 [points de pourcentage]. This is something remarkable, ”she added. In his opinion, mandatory overtime, the stress of the pandemic and the departure of some colleagues are all factors that have contributed to increasing distress among healthcare professionals.
Downward trend
This study comes as the downward trend in COVID-19 continues in the province. Quebec reported 428 new cases on Thursday. These new cases bring the daily average to 504. The downward trend is thus 10% over a week.
For three weeks, the number of new cases has been relatively stable compared to the previous week. However, there are more marked increases in some regions as well as in children under 12, said Thursday the National Institute of Excellence in Health and Social Services (INESSS).
The three additional deaths bring the daily average to four, which is stable. Since the start of the pandemic, 11,458 Quebecers have succumbed to COVID-19.
The number of hospitalizations has fallen, to a total of 274 people hospitalized today, 13 fewer than the day before. There are now 72 people in intensive care, a stable number compared to the day before.
In the last week, the greater Montreal area accounted for more than 70% of hospitalizations. People aged 70 and over account for about half of hospitalizations.
According to an INESSS report made public Thursday, projections suggest that the number of new hospitalizations for Quebec as a whole could be down slightly in the coming weeks.
Since the start of the pandemic, more than 77,000 cases of worrying variants have been detected in Quebec, including 45,661 cases of the Alpha variant and 25,460 of the Delta variant.
The Ministry of Health and Social Services indicates that 13,614 additional vaccine injections were administered, or 12,928 in 24 hours and 689 before October 20, for a total of 13,131,504 doses administered in Quebec. Outside Quebec, a total of 210,391 doses were administered.
COVID-19 in graphics
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