Mental Health Support in the Transplantation Workforce: What Can We Learn From the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Abstract

Burnout (defined as a state of depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and a sense of reduced achievement) is a risk to all health care workers. The transplantation workforce not only faces the same challenges but also many others linked to the unique work and setting in which they deliver health care. In the past, the mental health care of the transplantation workforce has been sidelined, rather than prioritized. The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has not only compromised the safe delivery of transplant organs worldwide but has magnified the challenges for the transplantation workforce. especially with the high mortality in transplant patients who are infected with SARS-CoV-2. This review addresses the challenges to the mental well-being and psychological health of health care providers, both generally and within the sphere of transplantation, and not only highlights some of the inadequacies but also proposes strategies to establish psychological interventions that could benefit health care professionals within transplantation.