Burnout and Mental Health in Healthcare Workers During Pandemic Crises

Pandemic crises impose unprecedented demands on healthcare systems, intensifying pre-existing chronic stressors among healthcare workers. Exposure to high patient volumes, resource limitations and extended work hours contributes to emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and a diminished sense of personal accomplishment. These pressures elevate the risk of anxiety, depression, moral injury and secondary traumatic stress. Organisational factors—staffing levels, access to protective equipment, shift patterns and institutional support—interact with individual coping strategies and resilience to shape mental health outcomes. Globally, the prevalence of burnout among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic has been estimated at over 40%, with notable variation across regions, specialties and stages of the crisis. Evidence indicates that integrated interventions addressing workload management, peer support, psychological resources and systemic resilience are most effective in mitigating adverse outcomes and fostering sustainable wellbeing.

Research from Nature Portfolio

A nationwide survey of healthcare workers in South Korea applied the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory to assess exhaustion and disengagement during the COVID-19 response. Results revealed clinically significant exhaustion in over 80% of participants and high disengagement in more than 90%. Key correlates included chronic fatigue, physical symptoms emerging after outbreak onset, elevated stress and post-traumatic stress symptoms, female gender and younger age. Cumulative days of COVID-19 care and daily contact hours with infected patients were linked to worsening fatigue and physical complaints. These findings highlight the critical need for routine monitoring of burnout indicators, strategic workforce supplementation and scheduling reforms to ensure adequate rest and recovery.

Burnout and Mental Health in Healthcare Workers During Pandemic Crises publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in burnout and mental health in healthcare workers during pandemic crises across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Burnout: An occupational syndrome characterised by emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment resulting from chronic workplace stress.

Moral injury: Psychological distress arising from actions or inactions that violate an individual’s ethical or moral beliefs.

Secondary traumatic stress: Emotional duress resulting from indirect exposure to others’ traumatic experiences.

Resilience: The capacity to adapt to and recover from stressors and adversity.

References

1. Global estimate of burnout among the public health workforce: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Human Resources for Health (2024).
2. Correlates of burnout among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. Scientific Reports (2023).
3. Factors contributing to healthcare professional burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic: A rapid turnaround global survey. PLOS ONE (2020).
4. The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Burnout, Compassion Fatigue, and Compassion Satisfaction in Healthcare Personnel: A Systematic Review of the Literature Published during the First Year of the Pandemic. Healthcare (2022).