ArticleInternational journal of nursing studies2021
Estimating the burden of COVID-19 on the Australian healthcare workers and health system during the first six months of the pandemic.
Article in International journal of nursing studies, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 54 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
54 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 110 citations in OpenAlex.
- SARS-CoV-2 infection rates and associated risk factors in healthcare workers: systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among nurses: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of clinical nursing · 2022Pooled it
- Impact of personal protective equipment use on health care workers' physical health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis.American journal of infection control · 2021Pooled it
- Returning Home From Shift: Boundary Maintenance and Infection Control Practices Among Nurses in the Pre-Vaccination Phase of COVID-19.Nursing open · 2026Article
- Progress in epidemic-ready primary health care: early pilot results from four African countries (Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Uganda), December 2023 - October 2024.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Prevalence, Microbiological Profile, and Risk Factors of Healthcare-Associated Infections in Intensive Care Units: A Retrospective Study in Aljouf, Saudi Arabia.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- Analyses of haplotypes ofFrontiers in genetics · 2025Article
- VUCA in the present-day health workplace and the mental health and wellbeing of health care workers: a systematic scoping review.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- High Post-Infection Protection after COVID-19 among Healthcare Workers: A Population-Level Observational Study.Iranian journal of medical sciences · 2024Observational
- Adult Mental Health Presentations to Emergency Departments in Victoria, Australia between January 2018 and October 2020: Changes Associated with COVID-19 Pandemic Public Health Restrictions.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2024Article
- Article
- A systematic outbreak investigation of SARS-CoV-2 transmission clusters in a tertiary academic care center.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2023Article
- Considering community care in public health responses: A national study regarding palliative care during a prolonged coronavirus disease 2019 lockdown.Australian and New Zealand journal of public health · 2023Article
- Designing Digital COVID-19 Screening: Insights and Deliberations.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Australian nurses' and midwives' perceptions of their workplace environment during the COVID-19 pandemic.Collegian (Royal College of Nursing, Australia) · 2023Article
- Key predictors of psychological distress and wellbeing in Australian frontline healthcare workers during COVID-19 (Omicron wave).Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Analysis of associations between theFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Article
- Healthcare Workers' SARS-CoV-2 Infections in Four Hospital Outbreaks during Delta Variant Prevalence in Sydney, Australia.Nursing research and practice · 2023Article
- The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on critical care healthcare professionals' work practices and wellbeing: A qualitative study.Australian critical care : official journal of the Confederation of Australian Critical Care Nurses · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThere are no publicly available national data on healthcare worker infections in Australia. It has been documented in many countries that healthcare workers (HCW) are at increased occupational risk of COVID-19. We aimed to estimate the burden of COVID-19 on Australia HCW and the health system by obtaining and organizing data on HCW infections, analyzing national HCW cases in regards to occupational risk and analyzing healthcare outbreak.
methodsWe searched government reports and websites and media reports to create a comprehensive line listing of Australian HCW infections and nosocomial outbreaks between January 25
resultsWe identified 36 hospital outbreaks or HCW infection reports between January 25
conclusionThe study shows that HCW were at nearly 3 times the risk of infection. Of concern, this nearly tripling of risk occurred during a period of low community prevalence suggesting failures at multiple hazard levels including PPE policies within the work environment. Even in a country with relatively good control of COVID-19, HCW are at greater risk of infection than the general community and nosocomial outbreaks can have substantial effects on workforce capacity by the quarantine of numerous HCW during an outbreak. The occurrence of hospital outbreaks even when community incidence was low highlights the high risk setting that hospitals present. Australia faced a resurgence of COVID-19 after the study period, with multiple hospital outbreaks. We recommend formal reporting of HCW infections, testing protocols for nosocomial outbreaks, cohorting of workforce to minimize the impact, and improved PPE guidelines to provide precautionary and optimal protection for HCW.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.