Changes in Burnout and Moral Distress Among Veterans Health Administration (VA) Physicians Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

BackgroundWe investigated the impacts of workload, resources, organizational satisfaction, and psychological safety on changes in physician burnout and moral distress among physicians during the early pandemic.MethodsWe obtained national administrative and survey data on burnout, moral distress, organizational satisfaction, psychological safety, COVID-19 burden, and state-level restrictions for 11,877–14,246 Veterans Health Administration (VA) physicians from 2019 and 2020. We regressed the changes in burnout and moral distress on the changes in reasonable workload, appropriate job resources, organizational satisfaction, and psychological safety, controlling for COVID-19 burden and restrictions, and individual and medical center characteristics.ResultsBurnout and moral distress were not related to COVID-19 cases or restrictions but were reduced by improvements in workload, organizational satisfaction, and psychological safety.ConclusionsHealth systems should be conscious of factors that can harm or improve physician well-being, especially in the context of external stressors.