What challenges did junior doctors face while working during the COVID-19 pandemic? A qualitative study
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...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2021-12-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/12/e056122.full |
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| author | Anya Göpfert Maria Van Hove Carolyn Chew-Graham Marta Buszewicz Louis Appleby James Martin Ruth Riley Johanna Spiers Anna Kathryn Taylor Alice Dunning Kevin Rui-Han Teoh |
| author_facet | Anya Göpfert Maria Van Hove Carolyn Chew-Graham Marta Buszewicz Louis Appleby James Martin Ruth Riley Johanna Spiers Anna Kathryn Taylor Alice Dunning Kevin Rui-Han Teoh |
| author_sort | Anya Göpfert |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1d520bc2ff0f445c9a0461a58ad7c199 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-1d520bc2ff0f445c9a0461a58ad7c1992025-08-20T01:54:38ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552021-12-01111210.1136/bmjopen-2021-056122What challenges did junior doctors face while working during the COVID-19 pandemic? A qualitative studyAnya Göpfert0Maria Van Hove1Carolyn Chew-Graham2Marta Buszewicz3Louis Appleby4James Martin5Ruth Riley6Johanna Spiers7Anna Kathryn Taylor8Alice Dunning9Kevin Rui-Han Teoh101 Centre for Child and Adolescent Health, University of Bristol, Bristol, UKLondon School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UKSchool of Medicine, University of Keele, Keele, UKResearch Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London, London, UKDepartment of Psychology and Mental Health, School of Medicine, University of Manchester, Manchester, UKInstitute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham College of Medical and Dental Sciences, Birmingham, UKInstitute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, West Midlands, UKCollege of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UKSchool of Medicine, Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UKYorkshire Quality and Safety Research Group, Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Bradford, UKDepartment of Organizational Psychology, Birkbeck, University of London, London, Greater London, UKObjectives 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.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/12/e056122.full |
| spellingShingle | Anya Göpfert Maria Van Hove Carolyn Chew-Graham Marta Buszewicz Louis Appleby James Martin Ruth Riley Johanna Spiers Anna Kathryn Taylor Alice Dunning Kevin Rui-Han Teoh What challenges did junior doctors face while working during the COVID-19 pandemic? A qualitative study BMJ Open |
| title | What challenges did junior doctors face while working during the COVID-19 pandemic? A qualitative study |
| title_full | What challenges did junior doctors face while working during the COVID-19 pandemic? A qualitative study |
| title_fullStr | What challenges did junior doctors face while working during the COVID-19 pandemic? A qualitative study |
| title_full_unstemmed | What challenges did junior doctors face while working during the COVID-19 pandemic? A qualitative study |
| title_short | What challenges did junior doctors face while working during the COVID-19 pandemic? A qualitative study |
| title_sort | what challenges did junior doctors face while working during the covid 19 pandemic a qualitative study |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/12/e056122.full |
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