Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36697055›Full record

ArticleBMJ open quality2023

Fear of making a mistake: a prominent cause of stress for COVID-19 ICU staff-a mixed-methods study.

Cecilia Escher, Elisabeth Nagy, Johan Creutzfeldt, Oili Dahl, Mini Ruiz, Mats Ericson, Walter Osika, Lisbet Meurling

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open quality, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
3.5field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Beyond the ICU: family resilience and emotional turmoil after intensive care - a qualitative study.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Cecilia EscherClinical Sciences, Intervention and Technology (CLINTEC), Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden cecilia.escher@ki.se.ORCID 0000-0001-7086-7409
Elisabeth NagyClinical Sciences, Intervention and Technology (CLINTEC), Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Johan CreutzfeldtClinical Sciences, Intervention and Technology (CLINTEC), Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Oili DahlDepartment of Perioperative Medicine and Intensive Care, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
Mini RuizClinical Sciences, Intervention and Technology (CLINTEC), Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Mats EricsonDivision of Ergonomics, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
Walter OsikaNeurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Lisbet MeurlingClinical Sciences, Intervention and Technology (CLINTEC), Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Karolinska University Hospital · SEKarolinska Institutet · SEKTH Royal Institute of Technology · SE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on many domains of healthcare. Even in high-income countries such as Sweden, the number of patients has vastly outnumbered the resources in affected areas, in particular during the first wave. Staff caring for patients with COVID-19 in intensive care units (ICUs) faced a very challenging situation that continued for months. This study aimed to describe burnout, safety climate and causes of stress among staff working in COVID-19 ICUs.

methodA survey was distributed to all staff working in ICUs treating patients with COVID-19 in five Swedish hospitals during 2020 and 2021. The numbers of respondents were 104 and 603, respectively. Prepandemic data including 172 respondents from 2018 served as baseline.

resultsStaff exhaustion increased during the pandemic, but disengagement decreased compared with prepandemic levels (p<0.001). Background factors such as profession and work experience had no significant impact, but women scored higher in exhaustion. Total workload and working during both the first and second waves correlated positively to exhaustion, as did being regular ICU staff compared with temporary staff. Teamwork and safety climate remained unchanged compared with prepandemic levels.Respondents reported '

conclusionDespite large workloads, disengagement at work was low in our sample, even compared with prepandemic levels. High levels of exhaustion were reported by the ICU staff who carried the largest workload. Multiple significant causes of stress were identified, with fear of making a mistake the most significant stressor.

Indexed as

Burnout, ProfessionalCOVID-19FearFemaleHumansIntensive Care UnitsPandemicsCOVID-19critical carefatiguesafety culture

Identifiers

PMID36697055
PMCPMC9884924
OpenAlexW4317938238

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.