Burnout of health-care professionals in the face of a pandemic 

By Steeven Bernier 

Over the past year, many of us have heard stories in the media about people who lost their jobs and retrained in order to help out in the health-care system. However, working conditions within the health-care sector seem to have deteriorated all over the world. Headlines announcing that nurses no longer want to work at a particular hospital because of the lack of recognition and poor working conditions, for example, attest to this.  

In this context, many health-care professionals who had been working in the field for a number of years have decided to leave their jobs and change careers. With this in mind, it therefore seems likely that career development and counselling professionals will have to meet with such clients in the near future, if they have not already done so. However, beyond the change of course for these health professionals, it is important to understand the circumstances that led them to this decision. 

The pandemic and the strategies designed to counter it (curfews, lockdowns, etc.) have resulted in increased rates of mental disorders, not to mention increased psychological distress, insomnia, suicidal ideation and substance use and the like in health-care professionals (Cénat, 2020; Cénat et al., 2020). Even in non-pandemic times, they are more likely than the general population to experience mental health issues, to be under-diagnosed and to be under-treated (El-Hage et al., 2020).  

A number of pandemic-related factors can affect the psychological state of health-care professionals. These include direct exposure to patients with high viral loads, exposure to the risk of contamination, physical exhaustion, restructuring of work spaces, adaptation to rigid work organizations, management of equipment shortages, unusually high numbers of deaths among patients, colleagues or relatives, as well as ethical issues related to decision-making in an overstretched care system, being parents afraid of contaminating their children and the stigmatization of caregivers as potential vectors of viral infection (El-Hage et al., 2020). 

Canada is no exception to this situation. Indeed, according to recent data from Statistics Canada, seven out of 10 health-care workers reported a deterioration in their mental health during the pandemic (Statistics Canada, 2021). What is more, this perceived deterioration is greater among professionals working with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases. In these stressful circumstances, and in the context of a health-care system that was already under pressure, more and more health-care professionals are contemplating a change of career.  

Different strategies can be used to reduce the psychological impact of this new reality. From an individual perspective, enjoying social support, developing resilience and adopting healthy lifestyle habits can have a positive impact (Hage et al., 2020). Going beyond their coping strategies, many health-care professionals will start thinking about their career. 

It is therefore important to understand the reality of these professionals seeking to change jobs or professions so that we can work more effectively with them. Psychological factors such as those described above may have led them to make such a decision or, at the very least, to consider it. 

Steeven Bernier is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Nursing at Université Laval, as well as a lecturer in the Department of Health Sciences at UQAR, specifically for courses related to mental health. He is currently pursuing a master’s in counselling. The research for his dissertation focuses on the organizational strategies put in place by health-care environments to support nurses who have experienced burnout. 

References 

Cénat, J.M., (2020). US deportation policies in the time of COVID-19: a public health threat to the Americas. Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2020.05.017  

Cénat, J. M., Blais-Rochette, C., Kokou-Kpolou, C. K., Noorishad, P. G., Mukunzi, J. N., McIntee, S. E., … & Labelle, P. (2020). Prevalence of symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, posttraumatic stress disorder, and psychological distress among populations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychiatry research, 113599. 

El-Hage, W., Hingray, C., Lemogne, C., Yrondi, A., Brunault, P., Bienvenu, T., … & Aouizerate, B. (2020). Les professionnels de santé face à la pandémie de la maladie à coronavirus (COVID-19): quels risques pour leur santé mentale? [Health professionals facing the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic: What are the mental health risks?]. L’encephale, 46(3), S73-S80. 

Statistics Canada (2021). Impacts of COVID-19 on Health Care Workers: Infection Prevention and Control (ICHCWIPC). https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/survey/household/5340