Burnout among healthcare workers during public health emergencies in sub-Saharan Africa: Contributing factors, effects, and prevention measures

Abstract

Countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are expected to experience more public health emergencies (PHEs) in the near future. The fragile health systems emanating from poor health governance, inadequate health infrastructure, shortage of healthcare workers (HCWs), inadequate essential medicines and technology, and limited funding will make responses to these outbreaks slow and ineffective as seen with the COVID-19 pandemic. The workload for HCWs will grow due to these PHEs, which will increase the likelihood that they may experience burnout. This narrative review loosely followed the guidelines provided in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) statement. Google Scholar, PubMed, and ScienceDirect databases were used to retrieve relevant articles. Two reviewers assessed the titles and abstracts of all identified articles and extracted the data independently and compared their results thereafter. The causes of burnout among HCWs, its impact on patients, HCWs, and healthcare institutions, as well as preventive steps that should be taken to safeguard HCWs from burnout, are all covered in this article.

Keywords

• Burnout
• Healthcare workers
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• Public health emergencies
• Contributing factors
• Prevention measures