Introduction: During the global coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there were multiple reports of burnout among healthcare workers. A series of spikes in COVID-19 cases in Qatar led to increased efforts to track down, isolate, and test the close contacts of confirmed positive cases. The Department of Health Protection and Communicable Disease Control of the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) established the Track and Trace (T&T) team at five different geographical locations in Qatar from March 2020 to December 2022. The aim of the present study was to examine the degree of burnout among MOPH nurses working in the T&T team in Qatar. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 105 nurses from a total of 258 members of the swabbing team across five T&T field stations from October 1 to October 20, 2021. The degree of burnout—specifically personal accomplishment (PA), depersonalization (DEP), and emotional exhaustion (EE)—was measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Health Services Survey. Descriptive statistics, including frequency, percentages, mean, and standard deviation, were used to define participant profiles. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Scheffe’s test were used to determine significant variations in burnout scores across participants’ profile categories at the 5% significance level. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to identify a significant relationship between participant profiles and burnout levels. Scheffe’s test was then performed to determine which pairs of burnout score means differ significantly at the 5% level Results: A total of 101 nurses were eligible for and enrolled in the analysis. The majority were female (n = 69, 68%), married, aged 31–40 years (74%), and Filipino (n = 39, 39%) or Indian (n = 38, 38%) nationals. Most were living with their families (n = 86, 85%). Additionally, most of them had more than 10 years of professional experience and had been part of the T&T swabbing field team for over 11 months. The nurses in the T&T team exhibited an average burnout level ranging from low to moderate. Regarding the three domains of burnout, 81% of nurses had low EE (n = 82%, x = 12.8, SD = 9.25), 48% had low DEP (n = 49%, x = 5.56, SD = 4.64), and 50% had a moderate level of PA (n = 51%, x = 38.01, SD = 7.26). Filipino nurses and those categorized under “other nationalities” reported higher levels of EE and DEP compared to Indian nurses. Conclusion: Despite the multiple surges of COVID-19 cases in Qatar and the physical and emotional stress they caused among nurses in the swabbing field, only low to moderate burnout was recorded. Furthermore, the results showed no substantial correlation between lack of PA and EE, regardless of gender or nationality, or between DEP and nationality. To successfully manage burnout among nurses in the T&T swabbing field teams, periodic burnout evaluations and debriefing were proposed.
Pinca et al. (Mon,) studied this question.