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Objectives: The emergency response capacity of nurses is quite important during the COVID-19 epidemic. This study aimed to determine the relationship of resilience with emergency response capacity and occupational stresses during COVID-19 re-outbreak., Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that involved 241 new nurses. Questionnaires (including demographic characteristics and self-report questionnaires) were sent via QR code and used to conduct an online survey of new nurses. Resilience, emergency response capacity, and occupational stressors were measured using questionnaires., Results: Mean resilience score was 62.68 ± 14.04, which corresponds to a moderate level. Age, marital status, and work experience were significantly associated with resilience ( P = 0.037, P = 0.046, P = 0.011) and emergency response capacity (P = 0.018, P = 0.045, P < 0.000). Total score and 3 dimensions of resilience were positively correlated with emergency response competency questionnaire and 3 dimensions (P < 0.01). Total scores of the nurse job stress scale and patient care dimension were negatively correlated with resilience scores (P < 0.05). Resilience played a partial mediating role in occupational stressors and emergency response capacity, and mediating effect accounted for 45.79% of the total effect., Conclusions: The nursing superintendent must pay more attention to the resiliency of new nurses to reduce occupational stressors and improve emergency response capacity while helping new nurses cope with COVID-19 re-outbreak.

Background: Numerous studies indicated that workers in the health sector suffer from work stress, hassles, and mental health problems associated with COVID-19, which negatively affect the completion of their job tasks. These studies pointed out the need to search for mechanisms that enable workers to cope with job stress effectively., Objectives: This study investigated psychological flow, mental immunity, and job performance levels among the mental health workforce in Saudi Arabia. It also tried to reveal the psychological flow (PF) and mental immunity (MI) predictability of job performance (JP)., Method: A correlational survey design was employed. The study sample consisted of 120 mental health care practitioners (therapists, psychologists, counselors)who lived in Saudi Arabia. Sixty-four were men, 56 were women, and their ages ranged between 27 and 48 (36.32±6.43). The researchers developed three measurements of psychological flow, mental immunity, and job performance. After testing their validity and reliability, these measures were applied to the study participants., Results: The results found median levels of psychological flow, mental immunity, and job performance among mental health care practitioners. Also, the results revealed that psychological flow and mental immunity were statistically significant predictors of job performance. The psychological flow variable contributed (38.70%) and mental immunity (54.80%) to the variance in job performance of mental health care practitioners., Conclusion: The current study indicated that psychological flow and mental immunity significantly influenced the job performance of mental health care practitioners. These findings pointed out that human resource management in mental health care institutions in Saudi Arabia must search for procedures that achieve a state of flow and mental immunity for workers to make their jobs more meaningful. Also, these findings indicated the importance of planning interventions to enhance mental health care practitioners' psychological flow, mental immunity, and job performance to help them cope with work stress effectively and protect them from symptoms of burnout., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Al Eid et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Healthcare workers have an increased risk of depression and anxiety, and medical staff have faced a wide variety of challenges, especially during the COVID-19-pandemic. The aim of the VOICE study was to investigate risk and protective factors for workplace-related stress experience and mental health., Method: A multicentre, web-based and prospective survey (VOICE study) was initiated in the spring of 2020 by a network of five psychosomatic university clinics (Erlangen, Ulm, Bonn, Cologne and Dresden). More than 25,000 respondents took part in the study at five measurement points., Results: Of 3678 employees examined in a hospital setting during the first wave of the pandemic, 17.4% and 17.8% of physicians, 21.6% and 19.0% of nurses and 23.0% and 20.1% of medical-technical assistants (MTA) were affected by symptoms of depression and anxiety, respectively, to a clinically relevant extent. The most important risk factors for depressive and anxiety symptoms were insufficient relaxation during leisure time, increased alcohol consumption, lower trust in colleagues in difficult work situations and increased fear of becoming ill with COVID-19. Predictors for increased post-traumatic symptoms were increased generalized anxiety and depression as well as increased fear of infecting family members. Sense of coherence, social support, optimism and reward level acted as protective factors., Discussion: The psychological effects of workplace-related stress during the pandemic were found to be significant. Therefore, regular mental health screening and prevention programmes for healthcare workers are indicated., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: The National Health Service (NHS) is suffering from a workforce crisis of mental and physical sickness and attrition following the COVID-19 pandemic. An in-depth understanding of healthcare workers' (HCWs) experiences during the pandemic is required to understand the impacts on their mental health in this challenging work environment. This qualitative study explores HCWs' concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic-expressed in real time during an active mental health crisis., Design: This study involved analysis of data from 'Shout', a text message-based, UK-wide mental health support service which, during the pandemic, was advertised to HCWs specifically. Pseudorandom sampling of scripts of anonymised text message conversations between HCWs and Shout Volunteers from April 2020 to March 2021 was undertaken, with data fully anonymised by Shout before researchers accessed them on a secure purpose-built platform. Following application of exclusion and inclusion criteria, 60 conversations were coded to develop a thematic framework and analysed using grounded theory, with subthemes triangulated to create final themes. Quotes extracted from this process were then synthesised for publication., Results: Three themes emerged from the data: (1) poor mental health, subthemes-(a) overwhelming negative feelings or emotional distress experienced, and; (b) active crisis/resurgent symptoms. (2) Negative work experiences, subthemes: (a) negative NHS work culture and expectations; (b) inadequate structures and arrangements for support; (c) trauma at work, and (d) abuse at work. (3) The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, subthemes: (a) additional work pressure and (b) isolation and risk., Conclusion: This study explores the challenges and mental health concerns in HCWs during an active crisis. Organisational stressors, mental health provision and additional resources for HCWs to recover from the pandemic remain a vital issue in current NHS service provision., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), front-line nurses have faced not only daily work stress but also a high risk of infection and excessive workload, leading to unsatisfactory professional quality of life (ProQOL). This study aimed to explore whether self-compassion (SC) and benefit finding (BF) play a chain mediating role between work stress and ProQOL among Chinese nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic., Methods: From March to April 2022, a sample of 13,936 Chinese nurses was recruited through snowball sampling. Demographic information, work stress, SC, BF, and ProQOL were assessed. The SPSS 25.0 software and Amos 24.0 software were used for statistical analysis. The bootstrap method was employed to construct and examine the chain mediating structural equation model., Results: The ProQOL level of Chinese nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic was moderate. The overall fit indices for the compassion satisfaction (CS), burnout (BO), and secondary traumatic stress (STS) models were satisfactory (χ²/df = 2.486, 3.256, 2.553, RMSEA = 0.011, 0.014, 0.011, the GFI, AGFI, NFI, and CFI values were all above 0.90). Work stress had direct effects on CS, BO, and STS (β=-0.171, 0.334, 0.222, P < 0.001), and also indirectly affected these outcomes through SC (point estimate=-0.010, 0.021, 0.024, P < 0.001), BF (point estimate=-0.033, 0.015, - 0.011, P < 0.001), as well as their chain mediating effect (point estimate=-0.015, 0.006, - 0.005, P < 0.001)., Conclusions: Our study suggests that SC and BF partially mediated the association between work stress and ProQOL in Chinese nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Training on SC and BF may be crucial components of interventions aimed at improving ProQOL., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Teachers experienced increased stressors and stress during the initial onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. While many educators returned to in-person instruction in the 2021-2022 school year, they faced changing job demands and stressors which has important implications for educator well-being. We sought to understand the stressors and health impacts faced by U.S. educators in the 2021-2022 school year, two years following the acute phase of the pandemic., Methods: Thirty-four certified educators based in Connecticut, USA participated in four virtual focus groups in February 2022. A semi-structured focus group script, designed by the research team and guided by the job demands-resources model, was administered to understand stressors and stress impacts. Data were transcribed and analyzed using the constant comparative method to identify themes and sub-themes. Themes were summarized based on how many participants mentioned them., Results: Analysis of the qualitative data yielded three themes concerning the well-being impacts of stress: physical health and health behaviors, psychological health, and relationships and social well-being behaviors. The majority of educators indicated impacts in these domains with 76% indicating impacts on physical health and health behaviors (e.g. poor sleep, physical exhaustion, lack of exercise, unhealthy eating), 62% indicating impacts on psychological health (e.g. emotional exhaustion, anxiety, negative self-evaluation); and 68% indicating impacts on relationships social well-being behaviors (e.g. connections with family or friends, connections with others, relationships with coworkers). The majority (94%) of educators indicated that stressors from the school or district with the majority (91%) citing stressors related to protocols/expectations (e.g. excessive or increased demands, insufficient or decreased resources) and some (38%) administrators. Over half (62%) indicated personal stressors including personal/home life (41%), high personal expectations (18%), and income (18%). Some (35%) indicated either the pandemic (26%) or safety concerns (9%) were stressors. Some (24%) cited students' parents as a stressor and a few indicated community (12%), students (12%), and state or national level (9%) stressors., Conclusion: Educator well-being continued to be impacted in the post-pandemic era. Targeted interventions are needed to reduce school and district-related demands and to address stress-related educator well-being., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

We surveyed workers in the performing arts sector to explore the role of positive mindsets in facilitating work-related resilience, engagement and reduced stress using retrospective reporting surveys during the Covid-19 work shut down period. Integrating conservation of resources theory with research on metacognitive self-regulation, we controlled for the severity of the Covid-19 impact and negative affect and found that hope (but not mindfulness) predicted professional engagement, resiliency and reduced tension and distress over time. Further, the relationships between hope and outcomes were mediated by positive affect (PA). Mindfulness was not indirectly (via PA) related to outcomes (i.e., engagement, resiliency, job tension, distress) but was directly and negatively related to job tension and distress. These findings suggest that in times of intense stress or adversity, future-oriented thinking such as hope may be more effective than mindfulness in sustaining positive mindsets and action-oriented outcomes such as engagement. Implications for practice and future research are discussed., (© 2024 The Author(s). Stress and Health published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the factors influencing pediatric nurses' job stress, including their level of fatigue and partnerships with the parents of patients. This investigation aimed to findings of this study may lead to the development of strategies to reduce pediatric nurse's job stress., Design and Methods: Participants were recruited from pediatric, pediatric intensive care, and neonatal intensive care units across seven general hospitals. Eligibility requires a minimum of 6 months of experience in pediatric nursing. The sample size was determined using the G*power program, considering various variables, including age, marital status, presence of children, and work-related characteristics, leading to a final sample size of 135, adjusted for a 10% dropout rate. Data collection was conducted through self-report questionnaires, and analysis involved frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-tests, ANOVA, and stepwise multiple regression, using SPSS Statistics 27.0., Results: This study confirmed a significant correlation between pediatric nurses' fatigue and job stress, with higher levels of fatigue associated with increased job stress. Stepwise regression analysis showed that fatigue and age were significant predictors of job stress among pediatric nurses, explaining 23% of the variance. However, detailed analysis showed that younger nurses had lower job stress scores compared to older nurses. This result suggests that more experienced nurses may experience higher job stress due to increased responsibilities and emotional burdens., Practice Implications: This study identified the need for effective strategies to manage fatigue and reduce job stress among pediatric nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Younger nurses, particularly those under 25 and between 26 and 30 years old, experience lower job stress compared to older nurses. Comprehensive support systems should be developed, including workload management, emotional support, and programs to enhance partnerships between nurses and parents. These strategies can improve job satisfaction and the quality of care provided to young patients. Additionally, they ensure a more resilient and effective healthcare workforce during pandemics and similar crises., (© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Healthcare professionals (HCPs) had to perform their duties under extremely trying circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic. High expectations further increased HCP's stress, which had an adverse impact on their mental health. The present quasi-randomised clinical trial examined how a specially designed pranayama regimen practised for 4 weeks affected the mental health of frontline, exposed HCPs in terms of perceived stress, wellness and quality of life. A total of 280 frontline HCPs on COVID-19 duties in five public hospitals of Delhi, India participated in this study. The intervention (n = 123) and control (n = 127) groups were alternately allocated. Data on perceived, self-reported mental health of HCPs were collected at baseline and post-test at the end-line (after 28 days of practice). We report that the intervention group (n = 123) had a substantial lower perceived stress at post-test at the end-line in comparison to the control group (n = 127, p-value: .028). Their overall WHO Quality-of-Life score also improved, of which the score on psychological domain increased significantly (p-value: .019). Accordingly, we conclude that a 28-day practice of the pranayama by the frontline HCPs in COVID-19 hospitals significantly decreased their level of perceived stress and enhanced their psychological quality of life., (© 2024 International Union of Psychological Science.)

Background: Health care industries must consider their sustainable development, and employee well-being is a crucial environmental, social, and governance indicator that should be prioritized. During events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, information transparency is a concern for health care workers. Authentic leaders can build trust by openly sharing their thoughts and feelings. Understanding how authentic leadership affects employee well-being through job stress and how emotional intelligence reduces job stress is essential for health care workers., Purposes: This study investigated the effect of authentic leadership on employee well-being and considered the mediating role of job stress and moderating role of emotional intelligence in this effect., Methodology/approach: A time-lagged survey of 452 full-time health care workers (comprising nurses, allied health professionals, and administrative workers) from a general hospital in Taiwan was conducted., Findings: Authentic leadership was positively associated with employee well-being, and job stress mediated the effects of authentic leadership on employee well-being. Among the employees who perceived leadership to be authentic, those with higher emotional intelligence felt less job stress., Conclusion: From the perspective of conservation of resources theory, authentic leadership was identified as a crucial factor influencing how health care workers reduce job stress and improve their well-being. Emotional intelligence was identified as essential in enhancing the effects of authentic leadership on reducing the job stress of health care workers., Practice Implications: Organizations should promote authentic interactions between leaders and followers and provide training for developing authentic leadership. They should also provide training to improve their employees' emotional intelligence., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: This scoping review maps the literature on psychosocial distress and coping among nursing assistants (CNAs) in long-term care facilities (LTC) during the COVID-19 pandemic onto the Social Ecological Model (SEM) of Occupational Stress., Methods: Searches yielded 862 unique studies. Inclusion criteria were sample CNAs or equivalent in LTC; includes psychosocial variable; and collect data from February 2020-. A multi-phasic, meta-synthesis was used to synthesize qualitative data., Results: We identified 20 studies (13 quantitative, 7 qualitative) conducted between March 2020 and December 2021 from 14 countries. Prevalence rates were reported for perceived stress (31-33%; n  = 1 study), post-traumatic stress (42%; n  = 1), anxiety (53%; n  = 1), depression (15-59%; n  = 2), suicidal thoughts (11-15%; n  = 1), and everyday emotional burnout (28%; n  = 1). Qualitative studies identified factors contributing to psychosocial distress and coping at each SEM level (i.e. individual, microsystem, organization, and peri-/extra-organizational). Quantitative studies primarily measured factors relating to psychosocial distress and coping at the individual and organizational levels., Conclusions & Clinical Implications: This review identifies specific targets for intervention for psychosocial distress among CNAs in LTC at multiple levels, including job clarity; workload; facility culture; community relations; and policy. These intervention targets remain relevant to the LTC industry beyond the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We aimed to explore the experiences, needs, and mental health impact of family members of healthcare workers (HCWs) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eleven quantitative and nine qualitative studies were included in this review. Based on the narrative synthesis, we identified five outcomes: 'Mental health outcomes', 'Family relationships, 'Coping skills and resilience', 'Quality of life and social life', and 'Practical outcomes'. Our findings indicated that there was a high risk to the mental health and well-being of families of healthcare workers both before and during the pandemic. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, some experiences and mental health issues of families were worsened. There was also a negative association between working long hours/shift work and family relationships/communication, family social life, and joint activities, and family members taking on more domestic responsibilities. Families tended to use both positive and negative coping strategies to deal with their loved one's job stress. Organisations and support services working with people in health care work should consider widening support to families where possible. With this understanding, HCWs and their families could be supported more effectively in clinical and organisational settings. Trial registration: Systematic Review Registration Number: CRD42022310729. https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display&#95;record.php?ID=CRD42022310729., Competing Interests: NO authors have competing interests., (Copyright: © 2024 Tekin et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Aim: To describe and compare the prevalence of assaults and aggressive patient behavior among frontline staff in behavioral health (BH), medical-surgical (MS), and emergency department (ED) settings and examine the impact on staff health, work stress, work engagement, and intent to leave their position., Background: Patient verbal and physical assaults have significant staff consequences, including decreased work productivity, increased burnout, job dissatisfaction, absenteeism, turnover, and intentions to leave., Methods: Using a descriptive cross-sectional design, data were collected from a sample of 432 frontline staff working in ED, BH, and MS settings across 3 healthcare systems., Results: The majority of frontline staff (74%) reported experiencing verbal aggression often/frequently, significantly impacting their mental health, work engagement, stress levels, and intent to leave. All 3 specialty groups reported a significant increase in verbal/psychological assaults and physical assaults since the pandemic's onset., Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on assaultive/aggressive behaviors. Nurse leaders must strategize on methods to decrease the normalization of violence against healthcare workers and support research aimed at evidence-based interventions to reduce such incidences of violence and ensure the well-being of healthcare workers., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Health care workers (HCW) experienced significant stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative study describes how they contextualized the experience several years later., Methods: In August 2023, 1832 HCW at an academic medical center completed a confidential electronic survey; 443 of them responded to an open-ended question about their experiences during the pandemic. The statements were analyzed qualitatively, using a grounded theory approach to allow themes to emerge from the data., Results: Common themes included fear/anxiety (22%), burnout (15%), protecting family from risk (11%), lack of employer support (11%), fear of illness (8%), increased appreciation for life (8%), and exposure to death/illness (5%)., Conclusion: HCW experienced substantial stress during the pandemic. Mental health services and structural changes in the health care system are needed to protect HCW during future public health emergencies., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: None declared., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.)

Objectives . The COVID-19 pandemic, remote work and new technologies have heightened workplace pressures. Effective response and essential organizational changes require business leaders to be more adaptable, with managers' presence playing a pivotal role in successful implementation. The study assesses a brief mindfulness-based emotional regulation for managers (MBERM) intervention, to reduce workplace stress and enhance managerial well-being. Methods . An 8-week non-randomized controlled trial was conducted with a waiting list control group and an intervention group. Pre-post differences were measured by Student's t test or Wilcoxon test, and effect size calculated using the Hedge's g formula. The sample included 23 managers (17 men and six women) with average age 50 years. The study assessed anxiety and depressive symptoms, psychological flexibility, perceived self-efficacy, general work-related well-being, perceived stress and mindfulness. Results . Statistically significant changes were observed in the intervention group in depression, anxiety, work-related acceptance and action, general self-efficacy, exhaustion, alienation, stress and non-reactivity. The control group showed no statistically significant changes in any of the variables. Conclusion . The MBERM intervention could improve the emotional and work-related well-being of managers and reduce stress levels and burnout. Further study of this intervention is needed to promote adherence and ensure a long-term improvement.

Objectives . Studies have highlighted that healthcare workers are exposed to various forms of psychological distress. This study aimed to assess the psychological well-being of pharmacy staff during the COVID-19 pandemic and the associating factors. Methods . The cross-sectional study explored the psychological well-being of pharmacy staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. An adopted questionnaire was employed to collect quantitative data from January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021. Results . A total of 515 respondents were recruited. Those who perceived good health status were 1.9 times more likely to have normal depression scores (relative risk ratio [RRR] = 0.53; B  = -0.64), and 2.4 times (RRR = 0.41; B  = -0.88) more likely to have normal stress scores. Those who were greatly affected by COVID-19 in their work were found to be 1.2 times (RRR = 1.20; B  = 0.18) more likely to have moderate anxiety scores and 1.44 times (RRR = 1.44; B  = 0.36) more likely to have severe depression scores. Respondents with higher work characteristic scores were more likely to have normal depression, stress and anxiety scores. Conclusions . Good health status perception and work characteristics appeared to be the factors affecting respondents' scores in all dimensions of psychological well-being. Hence, improving both domains will be key in improving overall psychological well-being.

Aim: To develop a framework for understanding the stress appraisal process among acute care nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic., Design: A secondary analysis of open-ended responses from a cross-sectional survey of 3030 frontline, acute care nurses in New Jersey and the effect of burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic., Methods: Lazarus and Folkman's transactional model of stress and coping guided the study. Thematic analysis was used to analyse 1607 open-ended responses., Results: Nine themes emerged during the secondary appraisal of stress. Five themes contributed to distress and burnout including (1) high patient acuity with scarce resources, (2) constantly changing policies with inconsistent messaging, (3) insufficient PPE, (4) unprepared pandemic planning and (5) feeling undervalued. Four themes led to eustress and contributed to post-traumatic growth including (1) team nursing to ensure sufficient resource allocation, (2) open channels of communication, (3) sense- of-duty and (4) personal strength from new possibilities., Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic was a traumatic event for patients and the nursing workforce. Internal and external demands placed on acute care nurses increased burnout, however, a subset of nurses with adequate support experienced personal growth., Implications for the Profession And/or Patient Care: Beyond mental health interventions for acute care nurses, organizational interventions such as reevaluation of emergency action plans to optimize resource allocation, and work environment strategies such as improved communication and decision-making transparency are necessary., Impact: To better understand how frontline acute care nurses experienced stress during COVID-19, a data-informed framework was developed that included a primary and secondary appraisal of stress. Themes contributing to distress and burnout were identified, and themes leading to eustress and post-traumatic growth were also identified. These findings can assist nurse leaders in optimizing strategies to reduce burnout and promote post-traumatic growth in the post-COVID years., Reporting Method: No patient or public contribution., (© 2024 The Authors. Journal of Advanced Nursing published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Teacher stress is at an all-time high. The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges for teachers, which resulted in a record number of teachers intending to leave the classroom citing stress as a contributing factor. Understanding teachers' positive and negative psychological experiences, or well-being, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic will inform teacher wellness interventions intended to keep teachers in the classroom. Two hundred forty-six teachers from a suburban school district participated in a survey of well-being indicators, including affect, perceived stress, teaching self-efficacy, and preventive coping. A latent profile analysis identified four patterns of well-being: strained, resilient, lower teaching self-efficacy, and lower emotional well-being. While many teachers were resilient during the crisis, approximately two-thirds experienced global or isolated areas of strain. Additionally, the Classroom Appraisal of Resources and Demands-Revised, a theory-driven assessment of teachers' workplace appraisal of demands and resources, was associated with teachers' strained and resilient well-being profiles, making it a suitable screening tool for these groups. Layered screening and tailored intervention, based on teachers' well-being patterns, may help minimize teacher attrition during and postcrises. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

In this study, we aimed to investigate the influence of resilience or public service motivation (PSM) on firefighters' work engagement during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. We conducted an online survey with 304 firefighters assigned to Gyeonggi-do between October 27 and 28, 2022, and collected their demographic information; work-related data; mood, anxiety and insomnia symptoms; and work-related attitudes. The leading causes of firefighters' stress were physical and mental health decline due to heavy workloads (46.4%), verbal abuse and assault from civilians (33.9%), conflict with coworkers (18.4%), and death of colleagues (13.2%). The results of the logistic regression analysis revealed that high levels of resilience (OR = 1.28, p < 0.001), service motivation (OR = 1.17, p < 0.001), and non-exposure to death (OR = 0.33, p = 0.005) led to high work engagement. Mediation analysis showed that resilience and PSM mediated the influence of depression on work engagement. The work engagement of firefighters is influenced by resilience, PSM, and exposure to death., Competing Interests: Declarations Compliance with Ethical Standards All authors have no conflict of interest to disclosure.This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the Asan Medical Center (Approval No. 2022 − 1293). Participants could voluntarily participate in the survey after checking “agree” to the agreement question with the information on this study, and obtaining written informed consent was waived by the IRB. Conflict of interest The authors have no known conflicts of interest to disclose., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Healthcare workers frequently face ethically demanding situations in their work, potentially leading to stress of conscience. Long-term work intensification (more and more effort demanded year after year), organizational change and COVID-19 may be risk factors concerning stress of conscience., Aims: The main aim was to investigate the relationship between long-term work intensification and stress of conscience among the personnel in a healthcare organization. Organizational change management was considered a mediator and COVID-19-related work stress a moderator in the association between work intensification and stress of conscience., Research Design, Participants and Context: A total of 211 healthcare district employees participated in a longitudinal survey using questionnaires collected in 2019 (major organizational change in the planning stage) and 2021 (organizational change completed)., Ethical Considerations: The study was implemented according to the guidelines of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity. The Finnish instructions were that no review by an ethics committee was necessary because participation was voluntary, informed consent was requested, participants were assured that they were free to withdraw from the longitudinal study at any time and no health data were collected., Findings: Long-term work intensification was associated with more severe stress of conscience. Long-term work intensification was partially mediated through change management to stress of conscience. High COVID-19 stress strengthened the association between long-term work intensification and stress of conscience., Conclusions: Long-term work intensification must be addressed to reduce stress of conscience in healthcare, otherwise the healthcare system will be vulnerable to changes and crisis. Extra resources for personnel and management should be allocated because of work intensification during organizational change and health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic to alleviate stress of conscience., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Health care workers are at increased risk for mental health issues due to high psychological and physical job demands. According to a recent study, stress beliefs (i.e., believing stress to be detrimental to one's health) might influence physicians' mental health in response to a naturalistic stressor (COVID-19 hospital working conditions). Due to a small sample size and high alpha error inflation, the suggested association needs to be interpreted with caution. The current study aims to replicate those findings in a larger sample. A cross-sectional survey among N = 418 (64.1% female; Median age = 30-39 years) physicians and nurses of a large German medical centre was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic (May/June 2021). Perception of pandemic related increase of work stress was assessed via self-report. Stress beliefs were assessed with the Beliefs About Stress Scale, and mental health symptoms were assessed with the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale. Stress beliefs moderated the association between increased work stress and mental health symptoms. Increased work stress was associated with increased depressive, anxiety and distress symptoms only in health care workers with medium (simple slope = 2.22, p < .001; simple slope = 1.27, p < .001; simple slope = 3.19, p < .001) and high (simple slope = 3.13; p < .001; simple slope = 1.66, p < .05; simple slope = 4.33, p < .001) negative stress beliefs. Among health care workers with low negative stress beliefs increased work stress was not associated with increased depressive, anxiety and distress symptoms. This confirms negative stress beliefs as variable of interest in research on the impact of stress on mental health in health care workers., (© 2024 The Authors. Stress and Health published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objective: To understand shift-level determinants of emergency physician (EP) burnout, relationships were tested between EP shift demands, stress, and fatigue., Method: EP ( n = 16) were assessed over 114 shifts that occurred before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Salivary cortisol (an indicator of stress) and self-reported fatigue were collected prior to and following each shift. An objective crowding score (National Emergency Department Overcrowding Scale) per shift was calculated. Shift demands were assessed at the end of each shift., Results: Multilevel models revealed that shift demands, National Emergency Department Overcrowding Scale, and the pandemic were related to higher levels of end-of-shift cortisol, but not fatigue. Cortisol levels were higher for shifts with a higher number of demands, greater crowding, and during the pandemic., Conclusions: Shift demands predicted objective indicators of stress, but not self-reported fatigue. Interventions are needed to decrease stress and shift demands to reduce EP burnout., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest: None declared., (Copyright © 2024 American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.)

Background: Turnover intention is considered a significant challenge for healthcare and treatment organizations. The challenging conditions of treating COVID-19 patients and the physical and mental stress imposed on nurses during the pandemic may lead them to leave their jobs. The present study aimed to determine the role of psychological factors (general health, mental workload, work-family conflicts, and resilience) on turnover intention using a Bayesian approach during the COVID-19 pandemic., Methods: The present cross-sectional study was carried out during the winter of 2021 at three hospitals in Khuzestan Province, Iran. To collect data for this investigation, 300 nurses were chosen based on Cochran's formula and random sampling technique. Seven questionnaires, including General Health, Mental Workload, Work-Family Conflict, Resilience, Job Stress, Fear of COVID-19, and Turnover Intention Questionnaires. Bayesian Networks (BNs) were used to draw probabilistic and graphical models. A sensitivity analysis also was performed to study the effects of the variables. The GeNIe academic software, version 2.3, facilitated the examination of the Bayesian network., Results: The statistically significant associations occurred between the variables of fear of COVID-19 and job stress (0.313), job stress and turnover intention (0.302), and resilience and job stress (0.298), respectively. Job stress had the highest association with the fear of COVID-19 (0.313), and resilience had the greatest association with the work-family conflict (0.296). Also, the association between turnover intention and job stress (0.302) was higher than the association between this variable and resilience (0.219). At the low resilience and high job stress with the probability of 100%, the turnover intention variable increased by 20%, while at high resilience and low job stress with the probability of 100%, turnover intention was found to decrease by 32%., Conclusion: In general, the results showed that four psychological factors affect job turnover intention. However, the greatest impact was related to job stress and resilience. These results can be used to manage job turnover intention in medical environments, especially in critical situations such as COVID-19., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objective: To evaluate the association between occupational stressors and common mental disorders (CMD) among "invisible" health workers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic., Method: Cross-sectional study including a probabilistic sample of 1,014 health workers from three municipalities in Bahia. CMDs were assessed using the SRQ-20. The Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) scale and the Demand-Control Model assessed occupational stressors. Descriptive, bivariate, and multiple analysis to evaluate the association between the variables of interest., Results: The global prevalence of CMD was 39.9%; it was higher among CHA/EDCA (47.2%), followed by management and surveillance staff (38.6%), technicians (35.4%), and support/maintenance/cleaning staff (29.9%). The association between occupational stressors and CMD varied among occupations: 1. Excessive work commitment (EWC), effort-reward imbalance (ERI), and psychological demand were associated with CMD among support/maintenance/cleaning workers; 2. EWC and ERI were associated with CMD among CHA/EDCA; 3. EWC, ERI, and low control over work were associated with CMD among technicians; 4. Among management and surveillance workers, only ERI remained associated with CMD., Conclusions: Occupational stressors played a relevant role in mental illness, with variation between occupational strata, demanding attention, monitoring, and control.

With the creation of a social distancing policy due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), home visit workers are under mental stress as they are treated as the source of infection for COVID-19. Since door-to-door rental equipment examiners and gas inspectors must perform their duties even in the COVID-19 situation, they are being discriminated against so severely. The purpose of study was to examine the mediating role of perceived stress on the relationship between risk perception and fear. Data was collected data through labor unions among 275 home visiting workers who examine rental home appliance equipment or inspecting gas. On-line survey was conducted to assess COVID-19 risk perception, fear, perceived stress, and demographic characteristics. The data was analyzed using PROCESS Macro (Model 4). The results of the study showed that stress plays an important role in increasing COVID-19 fears when COVID-19 risk perception increases. Meanwhile, it was found that COVID-19 fear decreased when the level of perceived stress decreased. To reduce the impact of COVID-19 risk perception on COVID-19 fears, appropriate educational programs to reduce stress should be developed for home visit workers. Policymakers need to develop online or mobile Infectious disease education programs for COVID-19 risk at work and establish policies to apply legal education., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Objectives: To explore the effects of occupational stress and resilience on insomnia among Chinese nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic., Design, Settings and Participants: A quantitative description study. The data were collected via a cross-sectional survey. A total of 725 front-line nurses at three tertiary hospitals in western China were included from December 2022 to January 2023. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Job Content Questionnaire, and Athens Insomnia Scale were used to collect data from a self-reported online questionnaire., Outcome Measures: The outcome variable was insomnia, and structural equation modelling was used to assess the associations among resilience, occupational stress and insomnia., Results: The prevalence of insomnia among the participants was 58.76%. The structural equation model showed that resilience had a negative direct effect on insomnia and occupational stress, and occupational stress had a positive direct effect on insomnia. Involvement in COVID-19-related work has a positive effect on insomnia through occupational stress. In contrast, higher education levels improved insomnia through increased resilience., Conclusion: A significantly higher prevalence of insomnia has been observed among Chinese nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study suggests that better resilience may improve insomnia by relieving occupational stress, and implementing measures to promote resilience is essential to reduce occupational stress in nurses and improve their sleep quality., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Objectives: This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate work-related stress and the efficacy associated with the newly developed Find My Stress mobile application. The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly influenced the quality of life, transcending geographical boundaries and inducing stress that has detrimentally affected health and work efficiency., Methods: A total of 440 male and female participants, comprising university students and adult workers, were enrolled in the study. Participants completed an assessment in the application that consisted of three components: 1) perceived work stress, 2) environmental stress factors, and 3) application efficiency., Results: University students exhibited higher perceived stress levels compared to adult workers (p = 0.031). The predominant physical factors contributing to musculoskeletal disorders in university students were identified as movement and posture factors, particularly related to vibration and organization. Conversely, environmental factors took precedence in adult workers, followed by posture and movement. The reliability of the perceived work stress questionnaire was evaluated by Cronbach's alpha coefficient and yielded a value of 0.96. The Find My Stress application demonstrated high efficiency., Conclusions: Elevated levels of work stress were observed in both university students and adult workers. Initial signs of musculoskeletal disorders in university students primarily manifested in the neck and upper back, arms, and hands, while adult workers predominantly reported complaints related to the arms and hands. The Find My Stress application emerges as a valuable tool for screening occupational stressors., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: In France, outpatient endovascular surgical procedures have been slowly implemented in hospitals since 2015. Their development has been heterogeneous across France and is not yet the standard of care despite their benefits concerning patients' outcomes and healthcare professionals' satisfaction. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for patient beds has been increasing, while human resources have been decreasing. This encouraged the surgery service reorganization and accelerated the shift from inpatient to outpatient surgery. Consequently, services had to adapt rapidly and this may have caused some strain on the hospital medical workforce. The objectives of this pilot study were to document and analyze the nursing staff (nurses and certified assistant nurses) well-being and workload as perceived by the vascular surgeons working with them. It also wanted to assess the link between the nursing staff's psychosocial stress and the surgeons' concentration and serenity in their workplace, based on the assumption that the well-being of both parties is inextricably linked., Methods: An observational study was conducted using an online questionnaire distributed to the senior members of the French society of vascular and endovascular surgery (n = 490) between October 10 and October 18, 2022., Results: In total, 125 surgeons completed the questionnaire (25% response rate). The main finding was that according to 68% of vascular surgeons, the nursing staff's psychosocial stress significantly impaired their serenity and concentration at work and this frequently affected the surgical procedure safety. The main sources of psychosocial stress were the high work pace (64%), demand for flexibility (56%), lack of anticipation of schedule changes (82%), and difficulties encountered in relaying these concerns to hospital managers (44.6%)., Conclusions: This study demonstrated that concomitantly with the forced acceleration of outpatient activity implementation, the vascular surgeons' perceptions of their working environment are deteriorating, especially in conventional (inpatient) surgery wards where the workload is increasing and patients have more comorbidities. The worsened psychosocial stress of surgeons and staff affects the care provided., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To identify stressors faced by hospital food service workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic and effective interventions mitigating these stressors. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we conducted surveys ( n = 305) and interviews ( n = 9) in the summer and fall of 2022 with employees in hospital settings to determine the psychosocial, organizational, and environmental stressors they faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and interventions that improved health and well-being. Findings: The main stressors reported were fear of infection, increased work demands and schedule unpredictability, and financial insecurity. Employee well-being was bolstered by regular, clear, bidirectional communication; a sense of community and purpose; benefits like paid sick leave and health insurance coverage; and organizational policies that included masking and vaccine requirements demonstrating commitment to protecting worker health. Conclusion: Organizations can play a critical role in guarding the health, well-being, and resilience of frontline workers., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.)

Objective: Emergency medical services (EMS) Code Lavender was developed to support EMS clinicians after stressful events via consistent recognition of events, informal peer support, and intentional acts of kindness. This study evaluated changes in burnout screening tool responses of EMS clinicians in response to program implementation and the coincidental start of coronavirus disease 2019., Methods: Anonymous surveys with demographic questions and 2 burnout screening tools were distributed before program implementation (spring 2020) and 20 months later (fall 2021). Analysis included t-tests, Fisher exact tests, and multivariable linear regression., Results: Seventy-seven preprogram (59% response rate) and 108 intraprogram (88% response rate) survey responses were included. No changes existed between preprogram and intraprogram responses across all subscale scores. Sex was associated with depersonalization subscale scores, with men having scores 1.53 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.11-2.95) higher than women. Compared with emergency medical technicians, paramedics had higher compassion satisfaction (OR 3.50; 95% CI 1.79-5.70) and personal accomplishment scores (OR 2.40; 95% CI 1.08-3.71). Transport nurses had higher personal accomplishment (OR 3.29; 95% CI 1.18-5.40), depersonalization (OR 3.73; 95% CI 1.19-6.26), and rates of burnout symptoms (OR 0.54; 95% CI 0.09-0.98) than emergency medical technicians., Conclusion: The organizational commitment, peer support, and authentic leadership of EMS Code Lavender may attenuate work-related stressors among EMS clinicians., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The author(s) have no relevant disclosures. There was no grant funding or financial support for this manuscript., (Copyright © 2024 Air Medical Journal Associates. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly accelerated the need and implementation of digital innovations, especially in medicine., Objective: To gain a better understanding of the stress associated with digital transformation in physicians, this study aims to identify working conditions that are stress relevant for physicians and differ in dependence on digital transformation. In addition, we examined the potential role of individual characteristics (ie, age, gender, and actual implementation of a digital innovation within the last 3 years) in digitalization-associated differences in these working conditions., Methods: Cross-sectional web-based questionnaire data of 268 physicians (mean age 40.9, SD 12.3 y; n=150, 56% women) in Germany were analyzed. Physicians rated their chronic stress level and 11 relevant working conditions (ie, work stressors such as time pressure and work resources such as influence on sequence) both before and after either a fictional or real implementation of a relevant digital transformation at their workplace. In addition, a subsample of individuals (60; n=33, 55% women) submitted self-collected hair samples for cortisol analysis., Results: The stress relevance of the selected working conditions was confirmed by significant correlations with self-rated chronic stress and hair cortisol levels (hair F) within the sample, all of them in the expected direction (P values between .01 and <.001). Multilevel modeling revealed significant differences associated with digital transformation in the rating of 8 (73%) out of 11 working conditions. More precisely, digital transformation was associated with potentially stress-enhancing effects in 6 working conditions (ie, influence on procedures and complexity of tasks) and stress-reducing effects in 2 other working conditions (ie, perceived workload and time pressure). Younger individuals, women, and individuals whose workplaces have implemented digital innovations tended to perceive digitalization-related differences in working conditions as rather stress-reducing., Conclusions: Our study lays the foundation for future hypothesis-based longitudinal research by identifying those working conditions that are stress relevant for physicians and prone to differ as a function of digital transformation and individual characteristics., (©Magdalena Katharina Wekenborg, Katharina Förster, Florian Schweden, Robin Weidemann, Felix von Bechtolsheim, Clemens Kirschbaum, Jürgen Weitz, Beate Ditzen. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 17.06.2024.)

Background: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there were under-recognized and unaddressed psychosomatic health problems among medical staff. The purpose of this study was to investigate their psychosomatic status., Methods: An online questionnaire was performed to the medical staff of major hospitals in Jinan in January 2023. In total, 1244 valid questionnaires were collected, and their psychosomatic status was assessed by the Psychosomatic Symptom Scale (PSSS) and Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10). Finally, we analyzed the influencing factors for their psychosomatic status., Results: The psychological health of the medical staff was poor, and the level of stress perception was intense, accompanied by obvious psychosomatic symptoms. Regression analysis indicated that age, gender, frontline involvement, work experience, marriage, presence of disease history and COVID-19 infection history were risk factors for psychosomatic symptoms, while education, frontline involvement and presence of disease history were risk factors for stress feeling., Conclusion: Medical staff often showed obvious psychosomatic symptoms and intense stress. Psychological health education and intervention should be given in order to improve their working quality., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.)

Background: A infection control nurse (ICN) has played substantial roles in infection control and epidemiology programs in hospitals to protect patients and coworkers during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aimed to explore the association between intention to leave in ICNs and job stress and burnout., Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among ICNs working in hospitals with ≥200 beds in South Korea from October 1 to 22, 2021. Variables included were related to general and job characteristics specific to COVID-19, as well as measures of job stress, burnout, and turnover intention for ICNs from previous studies. Path analysis was used to examine the relationships between job stress, burnout, turnover intention, and COVID-19-related work characteristics., Results: A total of 203 participants were included, of whom 95% were women. The results showed that work intensity in COVID-19 infection control was significantly associated with job stress (P<.001) and burnout (P = .035). Furthermore, job stress (P = .019) and burnout (P < .001) were positively correlated with turnover intention., Conclusions: In a pandemic with emerging infectious diseases, strategies to reduce turnover among ICNs and ensure a sufficient workforce are crucial to reducing work intensity, considering the factors that affect job stress and burnout., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The COVID-19 pandemic constituted tremendous traumatic stress among the frontline healthcare workers. In the present study, we investigated relationships of two types of rumination, namely brooding and reflection, with traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth and the mediating role of recollective experience in these relationships. A total of 88 healthcare workers (75% female, M age  = 54.91) actively providing service to COVID-19 patients reported two memories of events that impacted them the most at the first peak of the pandemic and rated their recollective experience (i.e., phenomenological characteristics of memories). We used structural equation modelling to test whether recollective experience mediated the link of brooding and reflection with post-trauma reactions of stress and growth. The findings showed that brooding and reflection were associated with higher levels of traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth. Importantly, recollective experience mediated the relationship of rumination with traumatic stress but this differed for the type of rumination. Higher brooding was associated with greater traumatic stress and that relationship was independent of how well the memories were recollected, while for reflection, high reflection was associated with stronger recollective experience, which predicted higher traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth. The present study shows the functional dimensions of reflective rumination and presents novel findings that demonstrates the discrete mnemonic mechanisms underlying the association between brooding, reflection, and post-trauma reactions., (© 2023 The Authors. Stress and Health published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the correlation between occupational stress and professional quality of life (Pro-QOL) among community nurses during the pandemic COVID-19. Design: This study was conducted with a correlational design of 120 community health nurses. The research sample was obtained using a nonprobability purposive sampling technique following the research inclusion criteria. Expanded Nursing Stress Scale and Pro-QOL were used in this study. The research hypothesis: there is a correlation between occupational stress and the Pro-QOL of community health nurses. Methods: Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to analyze the correlation between occupational stress and Pro-QOL. Findings: The results of correlation analysis showed that there was a statistically significant positive correlation between occupational stress and Pro-QOL. Despite being in a difficult situation due to the pandemic and vulnerable to occupational stress, nurses significantly had high compassion satisfaction. Conclusions: Occupational stress affects nurses' Pro-QOL, it can be considered for public healthcare organizations to promote healthcare workers' well-being. Mobilizing the existing workforce, changing work patterns, support from colleagues and supervisors, clear communication of directives, and precautionary measures can reduce psychiatric symptoms.

The COVID-19 pandemic directly threatened our health and safety, while contradictory scientific and media reports generated uncertainty. Social information processing theory suggests that employees may have relied on their coworkers, via coworker support, to make sense of the confusion. Because previous research shows that coworker support can counterintuitively increase strain, we investigated the effects of coworker support on strain during the pandemic. Specifically, we collected data from a heterogeneous US sample of 314 working parents in May 2020 to illustrate the path from personal traits (i.e., optimism, generalized self-efficacy, and internal locus of control) to COVID-19 anxiety to workplace outcomes (i.e., self-rated performance, emotional exhaustion, and work-family conflict) in a multiphasic study design. Employees with low levels of these traits reported more COVID-19 anxiety, and in turn, more decrement to their workplace outcomes. This mediation is moderated by coworker social support, such that the indirect effect is exacerbated by coworker social support. This is consistent with social information processing theory, which states that coworker social support can unintentionally corroborate and amplify employee stress perceptions. We therefore recommend that, when faced with significant adversity, organizations provide communication training oriented toward increasing positive coworker interactions and guiding social information., (© 2023 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Occupational self-efficacy is a stable predictor for professionals' motivation to engage with new methods and tasks. Yet, the delivery of tele-physiotherapy (Tele-PT) by physiotherapists (PTs) during the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak without advance training may have had the potential to increase work stress and damage their motivation, regardless of their occupational self-efficacy., Objectives: The present study examined whether the relations between PTs' overall occupational self-efficacy and motivation to provide Tele-PT was mediated by role stress (i.e. role conflict and ambiguity)., Design and Method: Between February 4 and April 23, 2021, 150 Israeli PTs completed an online survey that measured their overall occupational self-efficacy, their role stress induced by the provision of Tele-PT, their motivation to provide Tele-PT, and their demographic characteristics., Results: PTs' overall occupational self-efficacy was positively associated with PTs' motivation to provide Tele-PT ( r = 0.328, p < .01) and fully mediated by role conflict (0.1757, 95% CI = [0.0231, 0.3797]) and by role ambiguity (0.1845, 95% CI = [0.0196, 0.4184]) (components of role stress) caused by the provision of Tele-PT., Conclusions: It is important to investigate the predictors and mediators of the motivation to provide Tele-PT because in the post-COVID-19 era health organizations are likely to adopt many tele-medicine services, and they need to find ways to mitigate perceived challenges.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted work and home life exacerbating pre-existing stressors and introducing new ones. These impacts were notably gendered. In this paper, we explore the different work and home life related stressors of professional workers specifically as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic through the gender-based analysis of two pan Canadian surveys: The Canadian Community Health Survey (2019, 2020, 2021) and the Healthy Professional Worker Survey (2021). Analyses revealed high rates of work stress among professional workers compared to other workers and this was particularly notable for women. Work overload emerged as the most frequently selected source of work stress, followed by digital stress, poor work relations, and uncertainty. Similar trends were noted in life stress among professional workers, particularly women. Time pressure consistently stood out as the primary source of non-work stress, caring for children and physical and mental health conditions. These findings can help to develop more targeted and appropriate workplace mental health promotion initiatives that are applicable to professional workers taking gender more fully into consideration., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is the most significant worldwide health catastrophe, with massive impacts observed particularly among the healthcare workers. Stress among healthcare workers is a significant and pervasive issue that can have profound implications for both the well-being of healthcare professionals and the quality of patient care. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated factors among the healthcare workers (HCWs)., Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted involving 533 HCWs in Kota Setar District Health Office. Related data was collected between January and June 2021. Stress was measured using the Depression Anxiety Depression Scale 21 (DASS-21). Other variables included in this study were sociodemographic and employment factors. The associated factors and predictors were determined by employing chi-square test and multivariate logistic models., Results: COVID-19 related stress was reported at 10.5%. HCWs who work at the district health offices and those with degree or higher qualifications had 2.3 (AOR = 2.310, 95% CI: 1.177-4.535) and 3 (AOR = 2.899, 95% CI: 1.613-5.211) higher odds of experiencing stress compared to those working in the clinics and had lower qualifications (diploma or less)., Conclusions: The mental wellbeing of the HCWs participated in this study had been affected negatively by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in one in 10th of the HCWs were experiencing stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, with higher risk observed among those working at the district health office and HCWs with higher qualifications or ranking. This is expected since COVID-19 was a new and unprecedented outbreak associated with massive number of mortalities that requires active contact tracing and surveillance which commonly conducted at district health office level. Active intervention needed to cope with the overwhelming stress and working condition to ensure effective rehabilitation are in place and quality of work were not jeopardized., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Itam et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background and Objectives: The mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs) may have improved after the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to model the trajectories of psychological distress, depressive symptoms, and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and toward its end in HCWs in Czechia and investigate, which COVID-19 work stressors were associated with these trajectories., Methods: The study included 322 HCWs from the Czech arm of the international HEROES Study who participated in an online questionnaire in two waves during the pandemic and one wave toward its end. Growth mixture modeling identified trajectory patterns of depressive symptoms (measured with Patient Health Questionnaire), distress (General Health Questionnaire), and resilience (Brief Resilience Scale). Logistic regression was applied to estimate the association of COVID-19 stressors with mental health trajectories, adjusting for baseline characteristics., Results: Trajectory classes revealed both high and low depressive symptoms (high in 61% of participants), distress (high in 82% of participants), and resilience (low in 32% of participants). Depressive symptoms and distress trajectories demonstrated the same shape, first increasing during the pandemic and decreasing toward its end, while resilience remained constant. Exposure to COVID-19 stressors, in particular, the experience of stigmatization, discrimination, and violence, was associated with high depressive symptoms and distress trajectories, but not with resilience., Conclusions: Interventions provided to HCWs during crises such as pandemic should target distress and depressive symptoms and need to address stigmatization, discrimination, and violence.

Objective: This study explores occupational health burdens faced by domestic and sexual violence advocates, many of which intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. It identifies key stressors and offers advocate-driven recommendations to improve their wellbeing, addressing the lack of system-level interventions in the occupational health literature., Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 22 advocacy professionals. Thematic content analysis guided transcript coding, and researchers shared initial results with participants in two member checking sessions to validate the preliminary findings., Results: Advocates experienced logistical, emotional, and systemic stressors, including loss of peer support and unempathetic workplace cultures. Recommendations prioritize advocate wellbeing and call for systemic changes., Conclusions: Advocates' occupational stressors highlight the need for system-level solutions to enhance their occupational wellbeing, particularly during large-scale emergencies. Collaborative efforts among employers, funders, and staff are essential to address system deficiencies., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: None declared., (Copyright © 2024 American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.)

The COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread consequences for economic, social, and general wellbeing with rates of anxiety and depression increasing across the population and disproportionately for some workers. This study explored which factors were the most salient contributors to mental health through a cross-sectional 68-item questionnaire that addressed topics related to the pandemic. Data were collected through an address-based sampling frame over the two months from April 2022 to June 2022. A total of 2,049 completed surveys were collected throughout Chicago's 77 Community Areas. Descriptive statistics including frequency and percentages were generated to describe workplace characteristics, work-related stress, and sample demographics and their relationship to psychological distress. Independent participant and workplace factors associated with the outcomes were identified using multivariable logistic regression. The weighted prevalence of persons experiencing some form of psychological distress from mild to serious was 32%. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, certain marginalized communities experienced psychological distress more than others including females, adults over the age of 25 years of age, and people with higher income levels. Those who had been laid off, lost pay, or had reduced hours had increased odds of psychological distress (aOR = 1.71, CI 95% 1.14-2.56; p  = 0.009) as did people that reported that their work-related stress was somewhat or much worse as compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic (aOR = 2.22, CI 95% 1.02-4.82; p  = 0.04, aOR = 11.0, CI 95% 4.65-26.1; p  < 0.001, respectively). These results warrant further investigation and consideration in developing workplace and mental health interventions.

Objectives: Mental health and well-being of healthcare staff were majorly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Little attention has been devoted to the role employers could choose to play in mitigating long-term negative consequences and how effective organisational measures taken were perceived by the individual healthcare workers. This study aims to investigate (1) whether and how healthcare professionals' mental health has changed from the second to the third pandemic year, (2) whether differences between professional groups (physicians, nurses, paramedics) identified in previous studies persisted and (3) how job demands and resources, for example, work culture and employers' measures, impacted this situation., Design: The study employs an observational, cross-sectional design, using an online survey., Setting and Participants: The study was conducted online from mid-June to mid-August 2022 among healthcare staff in state-run and private healthcare facilities, such as doctor's practices, hospitals and paramedic organisations, in Germany and Austria (n=421)., Outcome Measures: We measured psychological strain using an ICD-10-based symptom checklist, as well as subjective strain and importance of stressors using self-report questions. The ICD-10 was the 10th version of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, a widely used standardized diagnostic manual., Results: Psychological strain stayed relatively consistent, with nursing staff suffering the most. While the job demands participants felt most affected by were structural issues (eg, staff shortages), employers were far more likely to be perceived as taking action against pandemic-specific job demands (eg, lack of protective gear). Psychological strain was lowest when staff perceived employers' actions as effective. Only 60% of those with severe enough symptoms to require psychological help had intentions of seeking such help, which is in line with past studies. This help-seeking hesitancy was also dependent on different facets of perceived work culture., Conclusions: Healthcare staff and nursing staff in particular continue to suffer in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, while employers were perceived as taking action against pandemic-specific job demands, pre-existing job demands causing stress and psychological strain for staff have remained uncombatted., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Purpose: This study investigated the associations of fear of COVID-19 with occupational stress and the mediating role of psychological well-being in pediatric nurses., Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between December 2021 and February 2022. The sample consisted of 464 pediatric nurses from public or university hospitals in Türkiye. Data were collected using a sociodemographic characteristics questionnaire, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, the Occupational Stress Scale, and the Psychological Well-Being Scale. The data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation and regression analysis., Results: Participants' fear of COVID-19 was positively associated with their occupational stress (F = 17.263; p < 0.001) but negatively associated with their psychological well-being (F = 10.575; p = 0.001). Their psychological well-being was negatively associated with their occupational stress (F = 22.084; p < 0.001). Nurses fear of COVID-19 explained three and 2 % of their occupational stress and psychological well-being, respectively. Nurses' psychological well-being explained 4 % of their occupational stress. The results showed that participants' psychological well-being did not mediate between their fear of COVID-19 and occupational stress., Conclusion: Pediatric nurses fear COVID-19 but have an above-mean level of occupational stress and psychological well-being. In conclusion, psychological well-being does not mediate between pediatric nurses' fear of COVID-19 and occupational stress., Practice Implications: The pandemic was a traumatic experience for pediatric nurses. Hospital administrators and nurse managers must monitor the psychosocial health of pediatric nurses and support them in times of crisis., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lot of stress for healthcare personnel. They are subjected to arduous and stressful working hours and may contract infection. The objectives of this study were to (i) assess the level of occupational stress and the prevalence of burnout among healthcare workers (HCWs) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic and (ii) to identify some sociodemographic characteristics and work-related factors that may influence the level of stress and burnout among such HCWs. An online survey was distributed on social media websites and groups of HCWs in KSA. The survey depended on the stress domain of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) and the work-related burnout domain of Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI). Data were collected using a Google form and then analyzed. Among 478 respondents, 37.7% of studied HCWs reported mild to extremely severe stress, and 47.9% of them reported work-related burnout. Occupational stress and burnout were more prevalent among front-line HCWs (43.9% and 55%) than among second-line HCWs (31.2% and 40.8%). The mean scores of occupational stress and burnout were significantly much higher among frontline physicians and nurses particularly those who are females, of younger age (≤40 years), with few years of work experience (≤15 years), being married, having chronic disease, and those previously infected by COVID-19. HCWs reported a high prevalence of occupational stress and burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. Establishing policies and guidelines, enhancing working conditions, and providing continuous psychological support and assurance to HCWs are recommended to improve their resilience and increase their coping capacities toward pandemics., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Background: Dental team members are susceptible to high mental and physical stress levels, which could have increased during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)., Objective: This study aimed to evaluate Jordanian dental workers' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and determine its predictors during the COVID-19 Pandemic., Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey study conducted on dental team members, namely; Dentists, dental Assistants, and Dental Technicians. The survey questionnaire was composed of questions related to stress during COVID-19, a short-form survey of 12 items (SF-12), a Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale (DASS-21), and a Nordic musculoskeletal disorder questionnaire (NMQ). Descriptive analyses were used to describe the main outcome measures, and multiple variable regression analysis was conducted to identify the quality of life predictors., Results: Participants' HRQoL measured by SF-12 showed a mean±SD score of 67.1±17.19 for the physical component and 54.51±20.27 for the mental component. The Nordic scale showed symptoms of lower back pain as 63.9% over 12 months, 32% over 12 months' functional limitation symptoms, and 45% in 7 days The regression model was found strong for our study with 53.8% variations (r2 = 0.538, F = 43.739, P < 0.001) in health-related quality of life., Conclusions: Our study concluded that the level of HRQoL among Jordanian dental specialists during COVID-19 was observed to impact levels of physical and mental well-being which negatively influence the quality of life. Predictive factors like depression, stress, anxiety, musculoskeletal health, and individual everyday quality of life significantly affect the HRQoL of dental specialists.

Background: Japan has a shortage of childcare personnel, and the high levels of stress causing turnover in childcare workers must be urgently resolved. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the characteristics and influencing factors of job stress in Japanese childcare workers., Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the job stress of childcare workers and explore the influence of demographic factors and the COVID-19 pandemic on such stress., Methods: The data were collected through an Internet survey from 2,472 respondents. A 23-item version of the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire was used to measure occupational stress in childcare workers. The instrument is recommended in the stress-check program implemented as a mental health measure in workplaces in Japan., Results: The percentage of childcare workers with high stress exceeded that of general workers. Multiple regression analyses showed that the only factor affecting all job stressors and social support was the fear of contracting COVID-19. Job stressors and the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant large effect on stress responses. Additionally, being married and having children moderated childcare workers' stress., Conclusions: This study provided basic data regarding job stress in Japanese childcare workers and compared them with those of other professionals. In the future, it will be necessary to clarify how stress is related to turnover intention and turnover in Japanese childcare workers to promote their career continuity.

Background: COVID-19 poses great challenges for preschool teachers in China, which will increase the level of job stress and job burnout, and have an impact on the relationship between job stress, job burnout, and perceived organizational support (POS). However, few studies have examined trilateral relationships, especially the role of POS concerning job stress and job burnout of preschool teachers., Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship among the three variables of job burnout, job stress, and POS, as well as explore the moderating effects of POS between job stress and job burnout., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among preschool teachers in six provinces of China. A total of 408 preschool teachers completed a self-report questionnaire, including three scales that measured job burnout, job stress, and POS respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis were used to examine the relationship among variables., Results: The results showed that job burnout among Chinese preschool teachers was at a medium level during the COVID-19 pandemic. Job stress was positively related to job burnout, and the POS was negatively related to job burnout. Additionally, POS moderated the relationship between job stress and job burnout and alleviated the adverse effects of job stress on the job burnout of preschool teachers., Conclusion: POS can play a moderating role between job stress and job burnout of Chinese preschool teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: In 2022, many universities transitioned from virtual learning back to in-person teaching. Significant changes in working conditions, along with COVID-19-related anxiety during the pandemic, might impact the well-being of lecturers., Objective: This study aims to assess the perceived stress, self-rated physical and occupational health of Vietnamese lecturers in 2022 compared to the pre-pandemic levels, and to identify their associating factors., Method: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in May-June 2022 through an online survey questionnaire. A sample of 425 university lecturers were included. Participants' stress levels were assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale. Participants were asked to compare their current physical and occupational health with before the pandemic. Explanatory variables included (1) COVID-19 exposure; and (2) perceptions of changes in working environment due to the pandemic. Multivariable ordinal least squared regression analyses were used to estimate the coefficient and 95% confidence intervals for the associations between COVID-19 exposure variables, work conditions, and each outcome., Results: Our findings indicated that over 60% of participants experienced moderate stress, while nearly half reported worsened physical and occupational health during the pandemic. Gender, age, perceptions of workload, workplace safety, COVID-19 infection, and incentive programs were significant factors associated with higher stress levels and worse self-rated health., Conclusion: To ensure occupational safety and support lecturers as they return to in-person classes, it is crucial to provide appropriate psychological and health support services.

Background: Studies have extensively examined the factors contributing to the onset of occupational stress, burnout, and depression. However, the relationship between these variables is limited., Objective: This study aimed to explore the association between occupational stress, burnout, and depressive symptoms and to investigate the mediating effect of burnout between occupational stress and depressive symptoms in medical staff., Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among medical staff in Chongqing, China. The Core Occupational Stress Scale (COSS), Maslach Burnout Inventory: General Survey (MBI-GS), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) were used to assess the status of occupational stress, burnout, and depressive symptoms, respectively. The bootstrapping analyses using SPSS PROCESS macros version 3 were conducted to examine mediating effects., Results: The study conducted on medical staff in Chongqing revealed that the detection rates of occupational stress, occupational burnout, and depressive symptoms were 31.8%, 23.3%, and 30.3%, respectively. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that occupational stress and burnout accounted for 19.3% (p < 0.001) and 18.8% (p < 0.001) of the variance in depressive symptoms, respectively. Mediation analysis showed that occupational stress indirectly affected depressive symptoms through the mediating effect of occupational burnout, with a mediation effect value of 0.13 (bootstrap 95% CI: 0.116-0.144) and the mediation effect accounting for 44.8% of the total effect., Conclusion: Our results indicated that occupational stress and burnout were predictors of depressive symptoms. Occupational stress had a significant indirect effect on depressive symptoms via burnout. These results suggest that reducing occupational stress and burnout could be effective strategies for preventing depression among medical staff.