Stock image of healthcare worker sitting down on the floor.Photo:Kong Ding Chek / Getty
Kong Ding Chek / Getty
These self-reported numbers marked an increase from four years prior, when less than a third of workers reported feeling burned out. The data also showed “greater declines on a range of mental health outcomes than other workers” in that timeframe, per a release.
Stock image of a healthcare worker taking a break.Kiwis / Getty Images
Kiwis / Getty Images
The CDC study, which also noted that reports of harassment doubled for health care workers in said timeframe, used data from the General Social Survey Quality of Worklife Module to compare self-reported mental health symptoms between 2018 and 2022.
The study also shares that the COVID-19 pandemic “may have further impaired health worker mental health and increased health workers’ intent to leave their jobs,” the release reports.
In 2018, 31.9% of health care workers reported feeling burned out often or very often, while in 2022, that percentage jumped to 45.6%, the study revealed.
Reports of being harassed could also be linked to poor mental health, per the study, with 85% of workers who reported feeling harassed also reporting anxiety, 60% also reporting depression, and 81% reporting feeling burned out. This is in comparison to the 53% (anxiety), 31% (depression), and 42% (burnout), who did not report being harassed.
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“In this study, we saw that when working conditions are positive, and where health workers are supported and have the potential to thrive, poor mental health outcomes were less likely," L. Casey Chosewood, director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s Office for Total Worker Health, said in the CDC’s release.
Houry said in a release that the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health will launch a nationalImpact Wellbeing campaign, which will “provide health employers with resources to improve worker mental health.”
“CDC’s efforts to address health worker mental health come at the right time, as we see how health workers have self-reported a unique increase in poor mental health, especially after a global pandemic,” Chosewood said.
The CDC also recommended employers allow workers to take part in decision-making, build trust, providing assistance and “enough time to complete work,” and prevent and “pay attention to harassment reports” to make a positive impact in their work lives.
source: people.com
