A Quantitative Analysis of Work System Factors and Well-Being Among Nurses and Physicians in Rural and Urban Settings During Covid-19 Pandemic.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess work system factors and nurse and physician well-being across professionals (nurse vs. physician) and geographic locations (rural vs. urban) during COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This study invited nurses and physicians within four hospitals from one large healthcare system to participate: one urban academic medical center and three rural hospitals. We measured work systems factors using the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) framework and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) survey. Wellbeing was measured using the 2-question summative burnout score, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to measure depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) checklist (PCL) to measure PTSD symptoms. Statistical analyses were conducted using Chi-square (for Likert-scale items) and t-tests (for continuous scales) as appropriate. Statistical significance was set at the .05 level, two-tailed.

Results: Overall, our results suggested that nurses and physicians working in the urban settings experience more impeding work system factors and are more burned out, depressed, exhibit more PTSD symptoms, and face greater overall well-being issues, when compared to nurses and physicians working in the rural settings.Conclusions/Applications to Practice:This study examined a comprehensive set of work system factors and well-being measures to better understand differences between rural and urban settings, and nurses compared to physicians. By examining this entire set of measures, we were able to provide a greater insight into the key differences, highlighting opportunities for policy-level contributions to prevent work related impairments from reaching the healthcare workforce.