Health worker jobs in the U.S. involve demanding and sometimes dangerous duties, including exposure to infectious diseases and violence from patients and their families.
The COVID-19 pandemic presented even more stressors. These included a surge of patients, longer working hours, and shortages of supplies and protective equipment. Health workers are reporting feeling fatigue, loss, and grief at levels higher than before the pandemic.
Health workers were more likely than workers in other sectors to report poor working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specific aspects of health work added to this disparity. The study showed how symptoms of poor mental health and negative workplace conditions increased among health workers from 2018 to 2022 compared to other worker groups:
- Burnout:Â In 2022, 46% of health workers reported feeling burned out often or very often compared to 32% in 2018. The percentage of other essential workers and all other workers reporting burnout was similar in the two years.
- Harassment:Â The percentage of health workers who reported experiencing harassment more than doubled, going from 6% in 2018 to 13% in 2022. Other essential workers also reported an increase, from 8% in 2018 to 11% in 2022.
- Trust in management: In 2022, 78% of health workers agreed or strongly agreed that they trusted management, compared to 84% in 2018. Other essential workers reported a smaller drop in trust in management—down to 77% in 2022 from 81% in 2018.
- Workplace productivity: In 2022, 82% of health workers reported that their workplace conditions supported productivity, down from 91% in 2018. Other essential workers reported a smaller decrease–down to 77% in 2022 from 84% in 2018.
- Turnover intention:Â In 2022, the percentage of health workers who intended to look for a new job increased to 44%, up from 33% in 2018. The percentage of other essential workers and all other workers who intended to look for a new job decreased.
