Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Feb 2:10:23333928221148079.
doi: 10.1177/23333928221148079. eCollection 2023 Jan-Dec.

Communication Training Helps to Reduce Burnout During COVID-19 Pandemic

Katey Wert  1 , Angela M Donaldson  2 , Tri A Dinh  3 , Daniel P Montero  4 , Rebecca Parry  5 , J Ross Renew  6 , Daniel S Yip  7 , Leigh Speicher  8
Affiliations

Communication Training Helps to Reduce Burnout During COVID-19 Pandemic

Katey Wert et al. Health Serv Res Manag Epidemiol. .

Abstract

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of communication training and its impact on burnout among healthcare providers (physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners), in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: To evaluate the effectiveness of communication training on burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare providers participating in a Communication in Healthcare (CIH) module between October 31, 2019, through February 20, 2020, were identified using a scanned sign-in sheet. A 3-question online survey regarding the utilization of communication skills during the COVID-19 pandemic was sent via email. An ordinal scale was used to rate the effectiveness of the training on subsequent burnout and work satisfaction during the pandemic.

Results: Of the 98 surveys distributed via email, a total of 33 participants completed the survey. Seventy-three percent of respondents agreed that communication training helped prevent burnout, and 39% strongly agreed that the modules improved work satisfaction.

Conclusion: Our study found communication training was effective in reducing burnout in healthcare providers, in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants felt the communication tools learned from the training modules were useful in improving work satisfaction and communication with patients during the pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; burnout; communication; training.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Survey questions used to assess effectiveness of communication in healthcare training on reducing burnout during COVID-19.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Back A, Tulsky JA, Arnold RM. Communication skills in the age of COVID-19. Ann Intern Med. 2020;172(11):759-760. doi:10.7326/M20-1376 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dewey C, Hingle S, Goelz E, Linzer M. Supporting clinicians during the COVID 19 pandemic. Ann Intern Med. 2020;172(11):752-753. doi:10.7326/M20-1033 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Macks JA, Abrams DI. Burnout among HIV/AIDS health care providers. Helping the people on the frontlines. AIDS Clin Rev.1992; [1045-2877] :281-299. - PubMed
    1. Jordan HT, Osahan S, Li J, et al.. Persistent mental and physical health impact of exposure to the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attacks. Environ Health. 2019;18(1):12. Published 2019 Feb 12. doi:10.1186/s12940-019-0449-7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sim K, Chua HC. The psychological impact of SARS: A matter of heart and mind. CMAJ. 2004;170(5):811-812. doi:10.1503/cmaj.1032003 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources