ArticleBMC health services research2023
Burnout, employee engagement, and changing organizational contexts in VA primary care during the early COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in BMC health services research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Is Leadership a Resource? A Systematic Review of Its Role in Burnout and Engagement Among Nurses Within the JD-R Model.Journal of nursing management · 2025Pooled it
- Practice Environment and Job Outcomes Among Primary Care Nurse Practitioners Caring for Patients With Dementia.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2026Article
- Protecting providers: A qualitative study of Veterans Health Administration mental health providers' perspectives on leadership and burnout.Psychological services · 2026Article
- Physician Experience of Discrimination in a Leadership and Well-Being Program.Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine : JABFM · 2025Article
- Burnout Among Primary Care Practitioners and Staff in VA Clinics Using Virtual Contingency Staffing.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- The Role of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Marginalized Identities in US Medical Students' Burnout, Career Regret, and Medical School Experiences.Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings · 2025Article
- Employees' perception of digital human resource management changes and proactive behavior: the mediating role of work engagement and moderating effect of person-organization fit.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Prevalence and factors associated with burnout among primary health-care workers in China during COVID-19: a national survey.BMC primary care · 2024Article
- Reimagining hospital management: the balanced scorecard as a catalyst for employee retention and organizational excellence.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic involved a rapid change to the working conditions of all healthcare workers (HCW), including those in primary care. Organizational responses to the pandemic, including a shift to virtual care, changes in staffing, and reassignments to testing-related work, may have shifted more burden to these HCWs, increasing their burnout and turnover intent, despite their engagement to their organization. Our objectives were (1) to examine changes in burnout and intent to leave rates in VA primary care from 2017-2020 (before and during the pandemic), and (2) to analyze how individual protective factors and organizational context affected burnout and turnover intent among VA primary care HCWs during the early months of the pandemic.
methodsWe analyzed individual- and healthcare system-level data from 19,894 primary care HCWs in 139 healthcare systems in 2020. We modeled potential relationships between individual-level burnout and turnover intent as outcomes, and individual-level employee engagement, perceptions of workload, leadership, and workgroups. At healthcare system-level, we assessed prior-year levels of burnout and turnover intent, COVID-19 burden (number of tests and deaths), and the extent of virtual care use as potential determinants. We conducted multivariable analyses using logistic regression with standard errors clustered by healthcare system controlled for individual-level demographics and healthcare system complexity.
resultsIn 2020, 37% of primary care HCWs reported burnout, and 31% reported turnover intent. Highly engaged employees were less burned out (OR = 0.57; 95% CI 0.52-0.63) and had lower turnover intent (OR = 0.62; 95% CI 0.57-0.68). Pre-pandemic healthcare system-level burnout was a major predictor of individual-level pandemic burnout (p = 0.014). Perceptions of reasonable workload, trustworthy leadership, and strong workgroups were also related to lower burnout and turnover intent (p < 0.05 for all). COVID-19 burden, virtual care use, and prior year turnover were not associated with either outcome.
conclusionsEmployee engagement was associated with a lower likelihood of primary care HCW burnout and turnover intent during the pandemic, suggesting it may have a protective effect during stressful times. COVID-19 burden and virtual care use were not related to either outcome. Future research should focus on understanding the relationship between engagement and burnout and improving well-being in primary care.
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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.