Work team identification associated with less stress and burnout among front-line emergency department staff amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed front-line healthcare workers to unprecedented risks and stressors threatening both physical and mental health Prior work in the military has found that team identification, or the sense that one was a part of a team, can help reduce stress and prevent burnout during prolonged stress Methods: We conducted repeated cross-sectional surveys embedded within emergency department workflow to understand whether team identification was associated with reduced reports of stress and burnout among front-line workers Results: During the 10-week study which spanned the first wave of COVID-19, 327 of 431 (76%) front-line healthcare workers responded to at least one round of the survey Higher team identification was associated with significantly less work stress (B=-0 60, 95% CI -0 84 to to -0 40, p<0 001) and burnout (B=-12 87, 95% CI -17 73 to -8 02, p<0 001) in cross-sectional analyses Further evidence of the protective effect of team identification for work stress (B=-0 36, 95% CI -0 76 to 0 05, p=0 09) and burnout (B=-13 25, 95% CI -17 77 to -8 73, p<0 001) was also found in prospective longitudinal evidence Conclusion: This work suggests work team identification is a key buffering factor against feelings of stress and burnout Efforts to promote team identification may offer a promising way for leaders to support front-line healthcare workers' well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic These results can inform ongoing COVID-19 operational and quality improvement initiatives © 2020 Author(s) (or their employer(s)) No commercial re-use See rights and permissions Published by BMJ