Protective Factors against Emergency Stress and Burnout in Healthcare and Emergency Workers during Second Wave of COVID-19

Abstract

Working as healthcare workers (HCWs) and emergency workers (EWs) during the first wave of COVID-19 has been associated with high levels of stress and burnout, while hardiness, coping strategies and resilience have emerged as protective factors. No studies have so far investigated these psychological factors during the second wave. We aimed to verify the trend of stress levels, burnout, coping strategies and resilience during the pandemic in Italian healthcare and emergency workers by comparing a first sample recruited from the first COVID-19 wave (N = 240) with a second sample relating to the second wave (N = 260). Through an online platform we administered questionnaires to measure stress, burnout, resilience, hardiness and coping strategies. The results showed that in the two waves the total stress levels of HCWs and EWs did not differ, while the physical stress and hardiness scores in the second wave were greater. No differences were found in the coping strategies used. An analysis of burnout levels in the second wave sample found that stress showed a high predictive power in the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization scales. Hardiness and resilience emerged as protective factors in reducing stress. The implications for the need to provide support and to improve hardiness for HCWs and EWs are discussed.

Keywords

• healthcare workers
• emergency workers
• COVID-19
• second wave
• stress
• burnout