Untangling the Professional Web: Understanding the Impact of Work-Related Factors on the Mental Health of Healthcare Professionals During the Late Stages of Covid-19 Pandemic

Ruxandra Laza,1 Anca Lustrea,2 Voichita Elena Lazureanu,1 Adelina Raluca Marinescu,1 Narcisa Nicolescu,1 Alexandra Herlo,1 Talida Georgiana Cut,1,3,4 Tamara Mirela Porosnicu,3,5 Ion Papava,6 Radu Stefan Romosan,6 Ana-Maria Romosan,6 Mariana Bondrescu,3,6 Cristian Zoltan Dimeny,7 Cristina Bianca Nica-Bacaiteanu,7 Minodora Andor,8,9 Liana Dehelean6 1Department of Infectious Diseases, Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania; 2Department of Educational Sciences, University Clinic of Therapies and Psycho-Pedagogical Counseling, West University of Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania; 3Doctoral School Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania; 4Center for Ethics in Human Genetic Identifications, Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania; 5Intensive Care Unit, Victor Babes Clinical Hospital of Infectious Diseases and Pneumophtisiology Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania; 6Department of Neurosciences-Psychiatry, Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania; 7Department of Psychiatry, Timis County Emergency Clinical Hospital Pius Brinzeu, Timisoara, Romania; 8Department of Medical Semiology II, Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania; 9Multidisciplinary Heart Research Center, Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, RomaniaCorrespondence: Anca Lustrea, Department of Educational Sciences, University Clinic of Therapies and Psycho-Pedagogical Counseling, West University of Timisoara, Bd. Vasile Parvan 4, Timisoara, 300223, Romania, Email [email protected]: The COVID-19 pandemic has determined an extraordinary challenge to healthcare systems worldwide. The extraordinary circumstances, characterized by elevated stress levels, prolonged working hours, new medical procedures, media attention, and high population expectations, have created an extremely stressful situation for healthcare professionals. This period has offered a unique opportunity to examine the medical system and the responses of healthcare practitioners to stress. This research aimed to identify the work-related factors that significantly impact the mental health of healthcare professionals.Patients and Methods: Three mental health variables were assessed: anxiety, depression and stress. The work-related factors considered were professional degree, type of medical unit (COVID or non-COVID), the number of hours spent at work in a single shift, type of shifts, monthly on-call frequency, and number of COVID-19 treated patients per month. In the spring of 2022, three inventories and a demographic survey were distributed and completed online by 300 healthcare professionals from Timisoara’s public hospitals in Romania.Results: Among the respondents, 47.7% reported mild symptoms of anxiety, 65.3% reported moderate levels of stress, and 33% of the participants reported mild symptoms of depression. The intensity of anxious, depressive, and stress symptoms varied significantly depending on the professional degree, number of on-calls per month, the type of medical unit where the participants worked, and the number of SARS CoV-2 patients treated in the previous month.Conclusion: Current data underlines the urgency of implementing effective strategies to reduce the stress and anxiety of medical practitioners who work with COVID-19 patients. Possible interventions encompass a variety of approaches, such as improving working conditions, reducing working hours where possible, increasing access to mental health services, and promoting team-building activities to enhance social support among colleagues. Digital mental health interventions, including online counseling and stress management programs, have also shown promise in these challenging times. Sustaining the mental health of medical practitioners is vital to support the continued provision of first-rate care to patients and to build a resilient healthcare workforce capable of navigating future health crises.Keywords: healthcare professionals, SARS-CoV-2, stress, anxiety, depressio