Psychological and occupational impacts of the recent successive pandemic waves on health workers: An integrative review and lessons learned

Abstract

Successive waves of pandemics can impact the mental health of healthcare personnel. We aim to present scientific evidence on factors associated with the occupational and psychological impact of successive waves of pandemics on health professionals. An integrative literature review was carried out with searches in five databases. Nine articles were included. The main impact explored in the articles is that pandemic situations are related to stress, anxiety, insomnia and depressive symptoms in professionals who are on the front line of care. The working conditions and the characteristics of successive global pandemic streams poses both conceptual and empirical research challenges. New institutional processes are needed to optimize benefits in terms of mental health and for coping with problem situations. Learning from previous pandemic waves is an important step in setting an agenda for future research.