Health care workers’ protection and psychological safety during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain

Abstract

Aims: To analyse the relationship between work engagement, sense of coherence and psychological distress levels in Spanish health professionals who were active during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Background: Work engagement and sense of coherence can help professionals to cope with work-related psychological distress due to the harsh conditions of the COVID-19 working environment. Methods: Cross-sectional observational study of 1,459 health care professionals. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, the Sense of Coherence Scale and Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire were distributed and analysed with descriptive and multiple linear regression methods. Results: High levels of work engagement, especially in the dedication dimension, of sense of coherence, in particular in the meaningfulness dimension, and psychological distress were obtained. Significant correlations (p