COVID-19 “Nightmare”: Perceived Stress, Emotional Distress, and Burnout Syndrome among Medical Staff after One Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

(1) After one year of treating patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, physical exhaustion is added to emotional stress and burnout syndrome. (2) By applying specific questionnaires, we evaluated healthcare workers who handled patients infected with SARS-CoV-2in terms of disease perception, perceived stress, emotional distress, and burnout syndrome after one year of the COVID-19 pandemic and compared them with staff who did not handle infected patients. (3) A total of 165 persons were evaluated, with 79 working in the COVID-19 department and 86 working in the non-COVID-19 department. No statistically significant differences were found in the perceived stress scores, emotional distress (functional or dysfunctional), and disease perception among the COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 groups. Also, we did not find any differences between the COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 departments concerning their total Maslach scores—50 in the COVID-19 department and 51 in the non-COVID-19 department, p = 0480—so a moderate level of burnout in the two groups. The only statistical difference was in the Maslach depersonalization scores, which were higher among COVID-19 workers (p = 0.024). (4) In our center, there was no statistically significant difference in perceived stress or emotional distress. The level of burnout syndrome seems to be the same among the two groups, regardless if they worked withCOVID-19-infected patients or not.