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Research ArticleOriginal Research

Burnout and Commitment to Primary Care: Lessons From the Early Impacts of COVID-19 on the Workplace Stress of Primary Care Practice Teams

Erin L. Kelly, Amy Cunningham, Randa Sifri, Oriana Pando, Kelsey Smith and Christine Arenson
The Annals of Family Medicine January 2022, 20 (1) 57-62; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2775
Erin L. Kelly
1Department of Family and Community Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2Center for Social Medicine and Humanities, University of California, Los Angeles, California
PhD
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  • For correspondence: erin.kelly3@jefferson.edu
Amy Cunningham
1Department of Family and Community Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
PhD
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Randa Sifri
1Department of Family and Community Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
MD
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Oriana Pando
1Department of Family and Community Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
MPH
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Kelsey Smith
1Department of Family and Community Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Christine Arenson
1Department of Family and Community Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
3Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
MD
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Abstract

PURPOSE The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected all areas of health care. Primary care practices are on the front lines for patients seeking health care during this period. Understanding clinical and administrative staff members’ strategies for managing the broad-ranging changes to primary care service delivery is important for the support of workforce well-being, burnout, and commitment to primary care.

METHODS Thirty-three staff members from 8 practices within a single health care system completed short, semistructured interviews from May 11, 2020 to July 20, 2020. Interviews were coded using a combination of conventional and directed content analysis.

RESULTS Themes emerged from the data that mapped onto the Job Demands-Control-Social Support model. Participants reported that every aspect of primary care service delivery needed to be adapted for COVID-19, which increased their job demands significantly. Several also described pride in their development of new skills, and in most interviews, they expressed that the experience brought staff together. Staff engaged in active cognitive reframing of events during the interviews as they coped with increased workplace stress. However, as the pandemic changed from an acute stress event to a chronic stressor, staff were more likely to indicate signs of burnout.

CONCLUSIONS Primary care teams absorbed tremendous burdens during COVID-19 but also found that some stress was offset by increased support from management and colleagues, belief in their own necessity, and new development opportunities. Considering high prepandemic strain levels, the ability of primary care teams to persist under these conditions might erode as the crisis becomes an enduring challenge.

Key words:
  • COVID-19
  • occupational stress
  • burnout, psychological
  • job demands-control-social support model
  • Received for publication February 25, 2021.
  • Revision received September 2, 2021.
  • Accepted for publication September 29, 2021.
  • © 2022 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.
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The Annals of Family Medicine: 20 (1)
The Annals of Family Medicine: 20 (1)
Vol. 20, Issue 1
1 Jan 2022
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Burnout and Commitment to Primary Care: Lessons From the Early Impacts of COVID-19 on the Workplace Stress of Primary Care Practice Teams
Erin L. Kelly, Amy Cunningham, Randa Sifri, Oriana Pando, Kelsey Smith, Christine Arenson
The Annals of Family Medicine Jan 2022, 20 (1) 57-62; DOI: 10.1370/afm.2775

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Burnout and Commitment to Primary Care: Lessons From the Early Impacts of COVID-19 on the Workplace Stress of Primary Care Practice Teams
Erin L. Kelly, Amy Cunningham, Randa Sifri, Oriana Pando, Kelsey Smith, Christine Arenson
The Annals of Family Medicine Jan 2022, 20 (1) 57-62; DOI: 10.1370/afm.2775
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Subjects

  • Domains of illness & health:
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  • Methods:
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  • Other topics:
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Keywords

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  • occupational stress
  • burnout, psychological
  • job demands-control-social support model

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