The Organizational Atmosphere in Israeli Hospital during COVID-19: Concerns, Perceptions, and Burnout.

Osnat Bashkin,Doron Schwartz,Nadav Davidovitch,Keren Dopelt,Noam Asna

doi:10.3390/ijerph18115544

Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis poses challenges to healthcare systems and requires micro- and macro-organizational adaptations. This study examined the organizational atmosphere in Israeli hospitals by evaluating workers’ perceptions and concerns about the COVID-19 crisis and its management. At the end of the pandemic’s first wave in Israel, 547 healthcare workers responded to an online survey, which inquired about COVID-19 concerns at the individual and family level, perceptions at the national and organizational level, perceptions of the way the crisis was managed, self-assessment of coping with the crisis and burnout, and demographics. Findings showed that healthcare workers expressed deep concerns for family members and apprehension at a national level. Respondents noted that they were coping well with the crisis while expressing negative perceptions of how the crisis was managed. A regression model showed that the low self-assessment of medical staff of coping with the crisis, deep concerns at the organizational level, negative perceptions of crisis management, and providing care for COVID-19 patients were predictors of burnout. The findings emphasize the importance of developing a supportive organizational culture for hospital workers. Awareness of their concerns and perceptions is essential to improve organizational culture and healthcare systems’ ability to continue fighting the virus and confront future health crises.

Highlights

The COVID-19 crisis that has burdened the world for the past year posed a significant challenge to healthcare systems and their employees
This study aims to examine organizational and managerial concerns and perceptions among healthcare workers while facing the COVID-19 crisis and their correlation to burnout
The current study survey consisted of seven dimensions describing self-assessment of coping, concerns, perceptions, and burnout

Summary

Introduction

The COVID-19 crisis that has burdened the world for the past year posed a significant challenge to healthcare systems and their employees. Aside from the critical issue of managing patient care and strategies to prevent the spread of the pandemic, healthcare systems were forced to make organizational adjustments on all levels to deal with the crisis. In managing an ongoing crisis, organizational adaptations are necessary to protect medical personnel from infection as well as from physical and emotional burnout [1]. Medical staff are at the front line of the battle against COVID-19. They must cope with a crisis with personal health and occupational ramifications, implement variegated organizational changes, and cope with ongoing job stressors, which may lead to adverse mental health symptoms and may affect the quality of medical care provided to patients [2]

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