BIROn - Birkbeck Institutional Research Online

    What challenges did junior doctors face while working during the COVID-19 pandemic? A qualitative study

    Spiers, Johanna and Buszewicz, M. and Chew-Graham, C. and Dunning, A. and Taylor, A.K. and Gopfert, A. and Van Hove, M. and Teoh, Kevin and Appleby, L. and Martin, J. and Riley, R. (2021) What challenges did junior doctors face while working during the COVID-19 pandemic? A qualitative study. BMJ Open 11 (12), ISSN 2044-6055.

    [img]
    Preview
    Text
    2021. Spiers et al. What challenges did junior doctors face while working during the COVID19 pandemic.pdf - Published Version of Record
    Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

    Download (412kB) | Preview

    Abstract

    Objectives: This paper reports findings exploring junior doctors’ experiences of working during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. Design: Qualitative study using in-depth interviews with 15 junior doctors. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, anonymised and imported into NVivo V.12 to facilitate data management. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Setting National Health Service (NHS) England. Participants: A purposive sample of 12 female and 3 male junior doctors who indicated severe depression and/or anxiety on the DASS-21 questionnaire or high suicidality on Paykel’s measure were recruited. These doctors self-identified as having lived experience of distress due to their working conditions. Results: We report three major themes. First, the challenges of working during the COVID-19 pandemic, which were both personal and organisational. Personal challenges were characterised by helplessness and included the trauma of seeing many patients dying, fears about safety and being powerless to switch off. Work-related challenges revolved around change and uncertainty and included increasing workloads, decreasing staff numbers and negative impacts on relationships with colleagues and patients. The second theme was strategies for coping with the impact of COVID-19 on work, which were also both personal and organisational. Personal coping strategies, which appeared limited in their usefulness, were problem and emotion focused. Several participants appeared to have moved from coping towards learnt helplessness. Some organisations reacted to COVID-19 collaboratively and flexibly. Third, participants reported a positive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on working practices, which included simplified new ways of working—such as consistent teams and longer rotations—as well as increased camaraderie and support. Conclusions: The trauma that junior doctors experienced while working during COVID-19 led to powerlessness and a reduction in the benefit of individual coping strategies. This may have resulted in feelings of resignation. We recommend that, postpandemic, junior doctors are assigned to consistent teams and offered ongoing support.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Business and Law > Birkbeck Business School
    Depositing User: Kevin Teoh
    Date Deposited: 04 Mar 2022 06:24
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 18:14
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/47033

    Statistics

    Activity Overview
    6 month trend
    88Downloads
    6 month trend
    125Hits

    Additional statistics are available via IRStats2.

    Archive Staff Only (login required)

    Edit/View Item
    Edit/View Item