Workforce Well-Being

Healthcare professional well-being is linked to care quality, retention, patient safety, patient experience, and system sustainability. Many professionals also reported growth despite hardship. New experiences, team diversity, adaptation, decision-making, creativity, and knowledge-sharing increased competence and confidence. Some professionals became stronger, more self-assured, and more aware of their ethical commitments. When moral challenges exceeded sustainable coping capacity, professionals developed physical and psychological symptoms. Reported consequences included sleep problems, emotional exhaustion, burnout, depressive symptoms, post-traumatic stress-like symptoms, sick leave, and intentions to leave roles. For some professionals, strain persisted after the first pandemic wave. The study used sick leave and engagement as department-level proxies for workforce well-being. Routinely collected hospital data can identify departments potentially at risk for higher sick leave and lower engagement.