Would've, could've, should've: a cross-sectional investigation of whether and how healthcare staff's working conditions and mental health symptoms have changed throughout 3 pandemic years.

OBJECTIVES: Mental health and well-being of healthcare staff were majorly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Little attention has been devoted to the role employers could choose to play in mitigating long-term negative consequences and how effective organisational measures taken were perceived by the individual healthcare workers. This study aims to investigate (1) whether and how healthcare professionals' mental health has changed from the second to the third pandemic year, (2) whether differences between professional groups (physicians, nurses, paramedics) identified in previous studies persisted and (3) how job demands and resources, for example, work culture and employers' measures, impacted this situation. DESIGN: The study employs an observational, cross-sectional design, using an online survey. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The study was conducted online from mid-June to mid-August 2022 among healthcare staff in state-run and private healthcare facilities, such as doctor's practices, hospitals and paramedic organisations, in Germany and Austria (n=421). OUTCOME MEASURES: We measured psychological strain using an ICD-10-based symptom checklist, as well as subjective strain and importance of stressors using self-report questions. The ICD-10 was the 10th version of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, a widely used standardized diagnostic manual. RESULTS: Psychological strain stayed relatively consistent, with nursing staff suffering the most. While the job demands participants felt most affected by were structural issues (eg, staff shortages), employers were far more likely to be perceived as taking action against pandemic-specific job demands (eg, lack of protective gear). Psychological strain was lowest when staff perceived employers' actions as effective. Only 60% of those with severe enough symptoms to require psychological help had intentions of seeking such help, which is in line with past studies. This help-seeking hesitancy was also dependent on different facets of perceived work culture. CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare staff and nursing staff in particular continue to suffer in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, while employers were perceived as taking action against pandemic-specific job demands, pre-existing job demands causing stress and psychological strain for staff have remained uncombatted.

Mental health of healthcare professionals during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic: a comparative investigation from the first and second pandemic years.

Healthcare staff have been facing particular mental health challenges during the COVID-19-pandemic. Building on a first study at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, we aimed to investigate among healthcare professionals in Germany and Austria (1) how mental health may have changed in professionals over the course of the ongoing pandemic, (2) whether there are differences between different professional groups regarding mental health, (3) which stress factors may explain these mental health outcomes and (4) whether help-seeking behaviour is related to caretaker self-image or team climate. Between March and June 2021, N=639 healthcare professionals completed an online survey including the ICD-10 Symptom Rating checklist, event-sampling questions on pandemic-related stressors and self-formulated questions on help-seeking behaviour and team climate. Findings were analysed using t-tests, regressions and comparisons to a sample of healthcare professionals assessed in 2020 as well as to norm samples. Results show that mental health symptoms, particularly for depression and anxiety, persist among healthcare staff in the second pandemic year, that symptom prevalence rates are higher among nursing staff compared with physicians and paramedics and that team climate is associated with mental health outcomes. Implications of these findings in relation to the persisting pandemic and its aftermath are discussed.

[Psychological Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Freelance Professional Musicians]. / Psychische Auswirkungen der COVID-19-Pandemie bei freiberuflichen Berufsmusiker*innen.

With the onset of public life restrictions in the COVID 19 pandemic in March 2020, freelance professional musicians were exposed to significant pandemic-related restrictions in exercising their profession. Due to the particular working conditions, this professional group was already considered high at risk in terms of mental health before the pandemic. The present study investigates the level of mental distress among professional musicians during the pandemic in relation to basic mental health needs and help-seeking behaviour. In July and August 2021, psychological distress was measured in a nationwide sample of N=209 professional musicians using the ICD-10 Symptom Checklist (ISR). In addition, the extent to which the musicians' basic psychological needs are met and whether they would seek professional psychological help was determined. Compared to various control groups before and during the pandemic, professional musicians showed significantly higher levels of psychological symptoms than the general population before and during the pandemic. Regression analyses support the assumption that pandemic-related changes in the basic psychological needs of pleasure or displeasure avoidance, self-esteem enhancement or self-esteem protection and attachment have a significant influence on the expression of depression symptoms. The musicians' help-seeking behaviour, on the other hand, decreases with an increase in depression symptoms. Due to the high overall psychological stress among freelance musicians, there is a need for action, especially in the provision of specially adapted psychosocial support services.