Health Care Workers: Mitigating COVID-19 Burnout

Health care workers around the world have made significant efforts to care for persons infected with COVID-19. This is especially relevant for the workforce in adult and pediatric intensive care units (ICUs). Competing demands regarding care for their families, self-care, and professional duties have placed substantial strains on ICU health care workers. Signs and symptoms of burnout for health care workers can be difficult to recognize. The pandemic has diminished health care workers' sense of self and morale ideals (Uzun Sahin et al., 2022), producing overstrain. Burnout includes elements of emotional exhaustion and forms of depersonalization that impair health care workers' ability to connect with the meaning of their work. It is important for health care workers to recognize burnout indicators and identify resources to help mitigate stress, which is critical to maintaining health care workers' retention and resilience. Nurses can ameliorate burnout by acquiring post-traumatic growth, providing self-compassion, and showing daily gratitude. Appropriate leadership involvement is necessary to keep health care workers mentally and physically healthy to continue serving the community. Leadership should offer staff access to workshops and resources to improve resilience, well-being, and professional quality of life. Long-lasting effects of the pandemic and burnout have become more apparent as health care workers continue to reflect on the past three years of frontline care. It is crucial for health care workers to recognize and acknowledge the impact of burnout and seek assistance as they move forward from this experience. Keywords: Burnout, COVID-19, nurse, health care worker, resilience, growth.