Determining the pandemic anxiety, professional burnout, and intention to leave work of family medicine professionals during the Covid-19 pandemic

This study was conducted to determine the occupational burnout, intention to leave work and pandemic anxiety of family physicians and family health professionals working in family health centers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, one of the aims of the study was to determine whether or not professional burnout, intention to leave and pandemic anxiety differ according to the personal and demographic characteristics of the participants. The population of the study consisted of a total of 741 healthcare professionals including 386 family physicians and 355 family health professionals, working in the Family Health Center located in the city center of Kahramanmaraş. The sample was not selected in the study, and the whole population was tried to be reached. The study was conducted with 392 health professionals. Three scales (the Pandemic Attitude Scale, the Intention to Leave Work Scale, and the Occupational Burnout Scale) were used to collect data. Significance test of the difference between two means, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were used to test the hypotheses of the study. As a result of the analyses, it was determined that the participants' individual negative attitudes about the pandemic and their organizational attitudes in the pandemic were high. The sense of personal accomplishment and depersonalization were moderate, while emotional exhaustion and intention to leave work were low. As a result of the difference analyses, it was determined that there was a statistically significant difference between some of the personal and demographic characteristics of the participants (such as age, occupation, education, duration of duty) for the three scales. As a result of the analyses, it was determined that negative individual pandemic attitude increased burnout and intention to leave work, and positive organizational attitude decreased burnout and intention to leave work. The reality of the pandemic has necessitated the need for the health personnel of the society and their ability to work in a healthy, happy and self-sacrificing manner. For this reason, it can be asserted that burnout and intention to leave work can be decreased by identifying clearly and evidently the job descriptions of family health center professionals especially during the pandemic, providing in-service trainings and continuous information for family health center professionals, eliminating the uncertainties that may occur, and ensuring that the workload of the professionals, which has increased particularly during the pandemic process, is balanced and fair.