Healthcare staff strain, exhaustion, and burnout are well known to affect the efficiency of healthcare and the provision of appropriate patient care. This study aimed to pilot a survey to understand clinician perceptions of occupational stress and coping in the emergency department (ED).

Occupational stress refers to psychological and physical stress related to one’s job. Healthcare staff exhaustion is receiving much media attention worldwide, which was even more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Good health and wellbeing of healthcare workers is an essential aspect of providing the best care to patients, and it needs to be a priority to sustain and expand the workforce to meet growing community needs.

Over 130 RBWH ED employees, including nurses and doctors, responded to the survey. Both professions reported high/extreme stress from heavy workload/poor skill mix, high acuity patients, overcrowding departments and inability to provide optimal care. The study found that occupational stressors impact ED nurses more than doctors and that nurses reported lower satisfaction and leadership support than doctors. Coping mechanisms included building personal resilience, hobbies and reframing thinking. This project provides relevant information for the understanding and mitigating factors that contribute to occupational stress in the ED and looking for positive solutions to retain a skilled workforce and attract new staff.