A Survey of Psychiatric Healthcare Workers' Perception of Working Environment and Possibility to Recover Before and After the First Wave of COVID-19 in Sweden
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2021

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the impact of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceived working environment, including the possibility to recover, among psychiatric healthcare workers (PHCWs) in comparison with pre-pandemic measures.
Method: A link to an anonymous, web-based COVID-19 related survey was sent via email to all PHCWs at a university hospital in Sweden (n = 1,618) in September 2020. The response rate was 38% (566 of 1,507 eligible participants). Working environment survey responses collected in 2019 were used as pre-pandemic comparators. Statistical analyses were performed to assess overall impact over time on work demands, support, motivation, and recovery, stratified by professional role, and considering variables such as access to personal protective equipment.
Results: The percentage of individuals responding negatively to statements about working environment increased significantly for most items after the first wave. Similarly, the increase of five of the investigated factors indicated a more negative perception of recovery during the pandemic. Registered nurses reported a greater negative impact of the pandemic on perceived working conditions and ability to recover than other professional groups. PHCWs working with patients with COVID-19 (35%) who reported being worried about becoming infected (12%) or infecting others (17%), or lacking adequate personal protective equipment (22%) were more negatively impacted regarding work environment-related items than those who did not.
Conclusions: PHCWs' working environment and possibility for recovery were impacted by the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses being most affected. Although psychiatric services do not directly care for patients with severe COVID-19 infection, the results from this study suggests that mental health services should also prepare for future pandemics.

online survey

recovery

working environment

psychiatric healthcare workers

COVID-19 pandemic

Författare

Eirini Alexiou

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Göteborgs universitet

Steinn Steingrimsson

Göteborgs universitet

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

M. Akerstrom

Göteborgs universitet

Västra Götalandsregionen

I. H. Jonsdottir

Göteborgs universitet

Västra Götalandsregionen

Linda Ahlstrom

Göteborgs universitet

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Caterina Finizia

Göteborgs universitet

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Helle Wijk

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Göteborgs universitet

Chalmers, Arkitektur och samhällsbyggnadsteknik, Byggnadsdesign

Alessio Degl'Innocenti

Göteborgs universitet

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Frontiers in Psychiatry

16640640 (eISSN)

Vol. 12 770955

Ämneskategorier

Hälso- och sjukvårdsorganisation, hälsopolitik och hälsoekonomi

Tvärvetenskapliga studier

DOI

10.3389/fpsyt.2021.770955

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2022-01-03