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Introduction: Workplace violence against healthcareworkers in Emergency Departments (EDs) is a global concern. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and types of workplace violence in EDs. Methods: a cross-sectional survey was conducted in three public sector hospital EDs in Gauteng, South Africa. A self-administered, standardised online questionnaire developed by the World Health organization was used to collect data between March and November 2022. A total of 65 healthcareworkers which consisted of nurses (24) and doctors (41) participated in the study. Results: The prevalence of workplace violence was 73.8 % with verbal abuse being the most common type at 66 %. Eighty-two percent of the victims did not report the incident. Poor communication and lack of mutual respect among staff and healthcare users contributed to both physical and non-physical workplace violence. Conclusion: Workplace violence appears to be a common occurrence in EDs in the hospitals surveyed in Gauteng. It is regarded as a typical incident by respondents, and it is underreported. It has a direct negative impact on healthcareworkers and their working environment and indirectly on patients. Urgent attention from all stakeholders is needed to minimize the prevalence of these incidents.

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BACKGROUND:  The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic placed immense pressure on frontline doctors. Burnout is a psychological syndrome that develops in response to chronic work stress. It consists of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalisation (DP) and reduced personal accomplishment (PA). Burnout is associated with personal dysfunction and compromises the work profession and patient safety. International studies suggest burnout is exacerbated during a pandemic. METHODS:  We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional observational study. Respondents included frontline doctors working in emergency medicine, family medicine and internal medicine during COVID-19 in Tshwane public hospitals. The survey included two validated questionnaires, the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale-21. The aim was to determine the prevalence and severity of burnout, psychological and somatic symptoms in frontline doctors. RESULTS:  Of the 163 participants, we found clinical burnout to be present in 58.9% (n = 96) and extreme burnout in 19.6% (n = 32). Moderate to extremely severe levels of stress, anxiety and depression were present in 55.1% (n = 90), 43.6% (n = 71) and 22.1% (n = 36) of participants, respectively. We found significant correlations between burnout and psychological symptoms. Increased levels of burnout, anxiety, depression and stress were found to be meaningfully associated with adverse somatic symptoms. CONCLUSION:  Our study demonstrated an insufferably high prevalence of burnout and psychosomatic symptoms in frontline doctors during COVID-19. In the event of future pandemics, more measures should be taken to support frontline doctors.Contribution: Pandemic-associated burnout and its psychophysical consequences have not been studied in frontline doctors in South Africa.

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INTRODUCTION: Working in emergency care is commonly regarded as highly stressful. This is also true in the African setting characterised by high patient loads and limited resources. As in other similarly demanding occupations, burnout can be anticipated. The aim of this study was to examine the level of burnout amongst doctors in a cohort of public sector emergency centres in Gauteng, South Africa. METHODS: An observational, cross-sectional design was employed, using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (which has been tested and validated in similar settings elsewhere). The study included a cohort of doctors working in the emergency centres of public sector hospitals in Gauteng, South Africa. RESULTS: One hundred participants completed the questionnaire out of a possible 124 doctors working at the five centres. Ninety-three met the inclusion criteria and was further analysed. Seven respondents were specialist emergency physicians (7.5%), 36 were emergency medicine registrars (38.7%) and 50 were medical officers (53.8%). Fifty one respondents were female (55.0%). Analysis of burnout component scores showed a mean emotional exhaustion score of 31.69 (standard deviation, SD = 10.32), with 62 respondents (66.7%) in the high-risk group - from 86 (92.5%) at moderate to high risk. The mean de-personalisation score was 13.39 (SD = 6.21), with 50 respondents (53.8%) in the high-risk group - from 75 (80.7%) at moderate to high risk of burnout. The mean personal accomplishment score was 34.87 (SD = 6.54), with 21 respondents (22.6%) in the high-risk group - from 65 (69.9%) at moderate to high risk of burnout. DISCUSSION: The results indicate that a large proportion of the doctors who work in these emergency centres are at moderate to high risk of burnout. Based on our findings we recommend that interventions be introduced at the work place to reduce burnout in doctors and improve their mental well-being. This will ensure better service delivery to patients with emergencies. Further research into the causes of occupational burnout should be explored.

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Introduction:Working in emergency care is commonly regarded as highly stressful. This is also true in the African setting characterised by high patient loads and limited resources. As in other similarly demanding occupations, burnout can be anticipated. The aim of this study was to examine the level of burnout amongst doctors in a cohort of public sector emergency centres in Gauteng, South Africa.Methods:An observational, cross-sectional design was employed, using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (which has been tested and validated in similar settings elsewhere). The study included a cohort of doctors working in the emergency centres of public sector hospitals in Gauteng, South Africa.Results:One hundred participants completed the questionnaire out of a possible 124 doctors working at the five centres. Ninety-three met the inclusion criteria and was further analysed. Seven respondents were specialist emergency physicians (7.5%), 36 were emergency medicine registrars (38.7%) and 50 were medical officers (53.8%). Fifty one respondents were female (55.0%). Analysis of burnout component scores showed a mean emotional exhaustion score of 31.69 (standard deviation, SD = 10.32), with 62 respondents (66.7%) in the high-risk group ­ from 86 (92.5%) at moderate to high risk. The mean de-personalisation score was 13.39 (SD = 6.21), with 50 respondents (53.8%) in the high-risk group ­ from 75 (80.7%) at moderate to high risk of burnout. The mean personal accomplishment score was 34.87 (SD = 6.54), with 21 respondents (22.6%) in the high-risk group ­ from 65 (69.9%) at moderate to high risk of burnout.Discussion:The results indicate that a large proportion of the doctors who work in these emergency centres are at moderate to high risk of burnout. Based on our findings we recommend that interventions be introduced at the work place to reduce burnout in doctors and improve their mental well-being. This will ensure better service delivery to patients with emergencies. Further research into the causes of occupational burnout should be explored

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