Changes in work conditions and well-being among healthcare professionals in long-term care settings in the Netherlands during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study

Abstract

Background: Healthcare professionals working in long-term care facilities reported heavy job demands and a lack of job resources during the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. However, how job demands and resources in these facilities changed during the pandemic, and how possible changes affected professionals’ work-related well-being, remains unclear. Thus, we explored changes in job demands and resources in the face of surging COVID-19 infection rates, and investigated associations of these changes with changes in burnout and work engagement, among healthcare professionals working in long-term care facilities in the Netherlands. Methods: This longitudinal study was conducted with healthcare professionals working in five long-term care facilities in the Netherlands. Data were collected in early and late 2021, when infection rates in long-term care facilities were low and high (mean, 29.1 and 275.4 infections/day), respectively. In total, 173 healthcare professionals completed the validated Job Demands and Resources Questionnaire, Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale at both timepoints. We performed paired-samples t tests to examine changes in job demands and resources, and fixed-effects linear regression analyses to examine associations of within-person changes in job demands and resources with those in burnout and work engagement. Results: Healthcare professionals perceived increased workloads, associated with increased burnout and decreased work engagement during the study period. Within-person increases in perceived collegial support were associated positively with work engagement and negatively with burnout symptoms. Conclusions: Healthcare professionals in long-term care facilities perceived increased workloads in the wake of surging infection rates during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in increased burnout and decreased work engagement. These changes in burnout and work engagement were also perceived in response to declining collegial support. Efforts to protect the work-related well-being of healthcare professionals working in long-term care facilities in the pandemic context that focus on workload reduction and the promotion of collegial support may be most beneficial.