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Workload of Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Korea: A Nationwide Survey

BACKGROUND: As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is ongoing, heavy workload of healthcare workers (HCWs) is a concern. This study investigated the workload of HCWs responding to the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea. METHODS: A nationwide cross-sectional survey was conducted from Septe...

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Autores principales: Cheong, Hae Suk, Kwon, Ki Tae, Hwang, Soyoon, Kim, Shin-Woo, Chang, Hyun-Ha, Park, Se Yoon, Kim, Bongyoung, Lee, Shinwon, Park, Jiho, Heo, Sang Taek, Oh, Won Sup, Kim, Yeonjae, Park, Kyung-Hwa, Kang, Chang Kyung, Oh, NamHee, Lim, Su Jin, Yun, Seongcheol, Son, Ji Woong
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8845106/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35166085
http://dx.doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2022.37.e49
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author Cheong, Hae Suk
Kwon, Ki Tae
Hwang, Soyoon
Kim, Shin-Woo
Chang, Hyun-Ha
Park, Se Yoon
Kim, Bongyoung
Lee, Shinwon
Park, Jiho
Heo, Sang Taek
Oh, Won Sup
Kim, Yeonjae
Park, Kyung-Hwa
Kang, Chang Kyung
Oh, NamHee
Lim, Su Jin
Yun, Seongcheol
Son, Ji Woong
author_facet Cheong, Hae Suk
Kwon, Ki Tae
Hwang, Soyoon
Kim, Shin-Woo
Chang, Hyun-Ha
Park, Se Yoon
Kim, Bongyoung
Lee, Shinwon
Park, Jiho
Heo, Sang Taek
Oh, Won Sup
Kim, Yeonjae
Park, Kyung-Hwa
Kang, Chang Kyung
Oh, NamHee
Lim, Su Jin
Yun, Seongcheol
Son, Ji Woong
author_sort Cheong, Hae Suk
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is ongoing, heavy workload of healthcare workers (HCWs) is a concern. This study investigated the workload of HCWs responding to the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea. METHODS: A nationwide cross-sectional survey was conducted from September 16 to October 15, 2020, involving 16 healthcare facilities (4 public medical centers, 12 tertiary-care hospitals) that provide treatment for COVID-19 patients. RESULTS: Public medical centers provided the majority (69.4%) of total hospital beds for COVID-19 patients (n = 611), on the other hand, tertiary care hospitals provided the majority (78.9%) of critical care beds (n = 57). The number of beds per doctor (median [IQR]) in public medical centers was higher than in tertiary care hospitals (20.2 [13.0, 29.4] versus 3.0 [1.3, 6.6], P = 0.006). Infectious Diseases physicians are mostly (80%) involved among attending physicians. The number of nurses per patient (median [interquartile range, IQR]) in tertiary-care hospitals was higher than in public medical centers (4.6 [3.4–5] vs. 1.1 [0.8–2.1], P = 0.089). The median number of nurses per patient for COVID-19 patients was higher than the highest national standard in South Korea (3.8 vs. 2 for critical care). All participating healthcare facilities were also operating screening centers, for which a median of 2 doctors, 5 nurses, and 2 administrating staff were necessary. CONCLUSION: As the severity of COVID-19 patients increases, the number of HCWs required increases. Because the workload of HCWs responding to the COVID-19 outbreak is much greater than other situations, a workforce management plan regarding this perspective is required to prevent burnout of HCWs.
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spelling pubmed-88451062022-02-24 Workload of Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Korea: A Nationwide Survey Cheong, Hae Suk Kwon, Ki Tae Hwang, Soyoon Kim, Shin-Woo Chang, Hyun-Ha Park, Se Yoon Kim, Bongyoung Lee, Shinwon Park, Jiho Heo, Sang Taek Oh, Won Sup Kim, Yeonjae Park, Kyung-Hwa Kang, Chang Kyung Oh, NamHee Lim, Su Jin Yun, Seongcheol Son, Ji Woong J Korean Med Sci Original Article BACKGROUND: As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is ongoing, heavy workload of healthcare workers (HCWs) is a concern. This study investigated the workload of HCWs responding to the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea. METHODS: A nationwide cross-sectional survey was conducted from September 16 to October 15, 2020, involving 16 healthcare facilities (4 public medical centers, 12 tertiary-care hospitals) that provide treatment for COVID-19 patients. RESULTS: Public medical centers provided the majority (69.4%) of total hospital beds for COVID-19 patients (n = 611), on the other hand, tertiary care hospitals provided the majority (78.9%) of critical care beds (n = 57). The number of beds per doctor (median [IQR]) in public medical centers was higher than in tertiary care hospitals (20.2 [13.0, 29.4] versus 3.0 [1.3, 6.6], P = 0.006). Infectious Diseases physicians are mostly (80%) involved among attending physicians. The number of nurses per patient (median [interquartile range, IQR]) in tertiary-care hospitals was higher than in public medical centers (4.6 [3.4–5] vs. 1.1 [0.8–2.1], P = 0.089). The median number of nurses per patient for COVID-19 patients was higher than the highest national standard in South Korea (3.8 vs. 2 for critical care). All participating healthcare facilities were also operating screening centers, for which a median of 2 doctors, 5 nurses, and 2 administrating staff were necessary. CONCLUSION: As the severity of COVID-19 patients increases, the number of HCWs required increases. Because the workload of HCWs responding to the COVID-19 outbreak is much greater than other situations, a workforce management plan regarding this perspective is required to prevent burnout of HCWs. The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences 2022-02-04 /pmc/articles/PMC8845106/ /pubmed/35166085 http://dx.doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2022.37.e49 Text en © 2022 The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Article
Cheong, Hae Suk
Kwon, Ki Tae
Hwang, Soyoon
Kim, Shin-Woo
Chang, Hyun-Ha
Park, Se Yoon
Kim, Bongyoung
Lee, Shinwon
Park, Jiho
Heo, Sang Taek
Oh, Won Sup
Kim, Yeonjae
Park, Kyung-Hwa
Kang, Chang Kyung
Oh, NamHee
Lim, Su Jin
Yun, Seongcheol
Son, Ji Woong
Workload of Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Korea: A Nationwide Survey
title Workload of Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Korea: A Nationwide Survey
title_full Workload of Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Korea: A Nationwide Survey
title_fullStr Workload of Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Korea: A Nationwide Survey
title_full_unstemmed Workload of Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Korea: A Nationwide Survey
title_short Workload of Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Korea: A Nationwide Survey
title_sort workload of healthcare workers during the covid-19 outbreak in korea: a nationwide survey
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8845106/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35166085
http://dx.doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2022.37.e49
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