Correspondence on Promoting COVID-19 Healthcare Worker Welfare.

Dear Editor:

The article published by Lee and colleagues presents an important addition to the growing body of literature on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and explores its effects on healthcare worker satisfaction and safety [1]. In their article, they report an unmet need within the medical field to understand opportunities to improve existing infrastructure and current practices to better address gaps in provisions for healthcare professionals, chiefly pertaining to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Elements of ‘effectiveness’ and ‘urgency’ were evaluated in their study with respect to multiple areas of interest including facilities, personnel, and compensation support, among others. Since healthcare workers interface widely across multilayered institutions and their respective hospital or healthcare systems, it is crucial to ensure that outstanding needs are adequately met.

Lee and colleagues incorporated the Delphi technique in their data collection and processing efforts to ensure provider anonymity and generate high-quality data reflective of achieving the goals of this study. Delphi consensus methodology has been previously demonstrated to be efficacious within healthcare settings to source expert opinions with relatively short turnaround times and minimal disruption. There is an urgency to synthesize and agree upon standardized definitions and best practices to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus. Emergent research aims to address this exigency through supplemental use of Delphi methodology, which may prove to be beneficial in achieving additional goals of care related to COVID-19 as well as those beyond the scope of the pandemic [2].

Lee and colleagues offer insight into the increasing issue of physician and provider burnout, contributing to a broader understanding of the impact of the pandemic on healthcare workers that are currently serving or have previously served on the frontlines. National surveillance and monitoring of trends can be a key factor in appropriately responding to gaps in information, expectations, and resources within a healthcare organization and its affiliates. It may be useful to consider research performed by Melnikow and colleagues, who surveyed American physicians at two time points to examine how physician burnout has been exacerbated by SARS-CoV-2 as well as how an equivalent model may be beneficial to other countries [3].

There is a pressing need for ancillary research to inform iterative processes across healthcare management and hospital administration to best support healthcare professionals. We hope that our correspondence will extend further awareness of the importance of qualitative research pertaining to healthcare worker satisfaction and safety in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.