How the COVID‐19 Pandemic Affected Providers of Different Job Titles Regarding Sleep Quality, Financial Situation, and Stress from Work

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Abstracts of the 2023 Pennsylvania College of Emergency Physicians Scientific Assembly

Abstract

Study Objectives: The COVID‐19 pandemic affected the overall wellness of health care professionals worldwide. This study provides insight into how health care professionals’ wellness was impacted throughout the course of the pandemic, whether positive or negative. The focus of this study relies on comparing the pandemic's impact on wellness of various job titles. Since the wellness of the healthcare team is important for the holistic care of the patient and their loved ones, it is important to assess the effects of the pandemic on their wellness.

Methods: The study was conducted through a survey via survey monkey to health care professionals of a healthcare network in eastern Pennsylvania. The study was sent to residents in training, fellows, nurses, attending physicians, as well as advanced practitioners in specialties including Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Critical Care. The survey was sent on January 11th, 2022 and remained open over a 2‐week period. All data collected in this study was anonymous. The responses to the survey questions about wellness were measured as 1 being not at all true to 5 being completely true. Several categories were compared to distinguish the providers from one another in addition to specialty, including age, with whom the provider lives, and the average number of clinical hours worked a month. Collectively, there were 267 surveys received of which 125 were male, 141 were female, and 1 prefered not to identify. 34 were Critical care, 147 were Emergency Medicine, 28 were Family Medicine, and 48 were Internal Medicine. 63 were Residents, 3 were Fellows, 34 were Nurses, 101 were Attending Physicians and 59 were NP/PAs.

Results: Results showed a difference in responses to four of the questions on the survey including “I have trouble falling asleep,” “I have trouble staying asleep,” “I am concerned about my financial situation,” and “I am stressed at work.” We observed a significant difference to each of these questions (See Figure 1). Regarding trouble falling asleep, residents in training versus NPs/PAs showed a p‐value of .002 while attending physicians versus NPs/PAs showed a p‐value of .004. For professionals having trouble staying asleep, there was a significant difference among residents in training versus NPs/PAs with a p‐value of .002. There was also a significant difference in the question pertaining to concern about one's financial situation where residents in training versus attending physicians show a p‐value <.001, residents in training versus NPs/PAs show a p‐value <.001, nurses versus attending physicians show a p‐value <.001, and nurses versus NPs/PAs show a p‐value of .001.

Conclusion: Sleep, financial concern, and stress from work can all contribute to a provider's care in the workplace. NPs/PAs suffer significantly greater than residents in training and attending physicians regarding having trouble falling asleep over the course of the COVID‐19 pandemic. NPs/PAs also have a harder time staying asleep when compared to residents in training. When assessing a provider's financial concern, residents in training are more concerned than attending physicians and NPs/PAs, and nurses are also more concerned when compared to attending physicians and NPs/PAs. Finally, residents in training feel less stress at work than NPs/PAs. The wellness questionnaires allow us to assess the impact of the pandemic on providers across several job titles; our results contain a wide range of areas marking concern for wellness of providers, and this warrants further research into why or how these differences arise.

First Page

e12946

DOI

10.1002/emp2.12946

Publication Date

6-2023

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