Association of social stigma of COVID-19 with work satisfaction, burnout and fatigue among health care workers in Nepal

Abstract

Objective: Stigma towards COVID-19 patients has been reported in various media news, including negative behaviour among healthcare workers (HCWs) towards COVID-19 patients, which could affect the professional quality of life for these HCWs. AIMS: We aimed to assess stigma related to COVID-19 patients among HCWs and explore its impact on their professional quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal. Methods: An online cross-sectional study was carried out among 421 HCWs (health assistants 35.6%, nurses 33%, doctors 23.3% and paramedics 8.1% and 52.7% female), working in health facilities in Nepal. The measures included background characteristics, stigma in terms of – discrimination towards COVID-19 patients, acceptance of COVID-19 patients and fear of COVID-19, and professional quality of life in terms of work satisfaction, burnout and fatigue. Descriptive and inferential statistics were utilised to analyse the data in SPSSvs20. Results: While around two-thirds of study participants showed a discriminating attitude towards patients with COVID-19, half showed a negative attitude towards acceptance of patients with COVID-19, and a fifth reported fear of COVID-19. Multivariable regression analysis indicated that while the presence of fear of COVID-19 was associated with low satisfaction, low burnout and low fatigue, an attitude of acceptance of COVID-19 patients was also associated with low burnout and low fatigue, and a discriminatory attitude towards COVID-19 patients was associated with only low satisfaction. Conclusion: Strategies directed towards reducing the fear and discrimination towards patients with COVID-19, and enhancing a positive attitude of acceptance of patients among HCWs, in order to enable an environment for reducing their burnout, fatigue and increasing work satisfaction are recommended.