ArticleBMC psychiatry2025
Three years of pandemic stress and staffing challenges: a retrospective qualitative study of COVID-19 impacts on frontline healthcare workers' mental health and wellbeing.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- When doctors falter: Resilience in modern obstetrics and gynecology, a narrative review.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2026Review
- "The Only People That Really Understand": A Qualitative Study of Healthcare Workers' COVID-19 Experiences and Implications for Workplace Support.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Examining the mental health support needs of NHS staff exposed to patient pregnancy and neonatal loss: A qualitative study.PloS one · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHealthcare systems have faced unprecedented demand over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, placing significant burdens on frontline doctors, nurses, and support staff. Many studies have thus observed significant impacts on frontline healthcare workers' mental health and wellbeing, however, few studies have explored the evolving nature of healthcare roles and its impacts on healthcare workers. This study retrospectively explored the changing nature of frontline healthcare roles over the last three years of the pandemic, and its impact on stressors and supports related to frontline healthcare workers' mental health and wellbeing.
methodA total of 11 Victorian (Australia) frontline healthcare workers from frontline wards participated in retrospective semi-structured interviews between March 2023 to April 2023. Data was analysed using thematic analysis, using a reflective approach to identify patterns across participant narratives and experiences.
resultsThree superordinate and nine subordinate themes were identified. Themes revolved around (1) COVID-19 anxiety and work related stressors in the initial and later stages of the pandemic, (2) The great resignation of healthcare workers that led to workforce issues, fatigue and exhaustion, which subsequently impacted team dynamics, workplace culture, engagement at work, and patient care, and (3) Strained social connections and work to family spillover effects during the COVID-19 era, as well as the key relational supports that helped healthcare workers manage stressors.
conclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic appears to have amplified existing challenges in healthcare provision and highlighted the psychological burden of healthcare roles on staff. Workplace demands have shifted from crisis management of acute risk of COVID-19 infections to now managing staffing shortages, presenting new challenges that require innovative solutions to ensure frontline HCWs' mental health are protected. There is thus a need to adapt staff supports to manage the excessive demand on staff now, and the findings here offer recommendations for governments, health organisations, and healthcare leaders to design policies and supports that meets the needs of frontline HCW's mental health and wellbeing.
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