Work factors and provider mental well-being in emergency departments
Citation: Schneider A, Weigl M. Associations between psychosocial work factors and provider mental well-being in emergency departments: A systematic review. PloS one. 2018;13(6):e0197375.
What is this? The COVID-19 pandemic is placing a strain on healthcare workers. Existing research on the effects of work factors in emergency department (ED) on healthcare workers’ well-being may provide useful information for policy makers.
In this systematic review, the authors searched for research into the quantitative associations between psychosocial work factors and the mental well-being of ED providers. They restricted their searches to articles published in English or German and did the search in December 2017. They included 37 cross-sectional surveys and 2 prospective studies. The majority of the studies were assessed to be of weak to moderate methodological quality, with considerable risk of bias.
What was found: Peer support, well-designed organizational structures, and employee reward systems may balance the negative impact of adverse work factors on the well-being of ED providers.