{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,28]],"date-time":"2026-10-28T02:07:47Z","timestamp":1793153267011,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,30]],"date-time":"2023-08-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1693353600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Healthcare worker burnout is a growing problem in the United States which affects healthcare workers themselves, as well as the healthcare system as a whole. The goal of this qualitative assessment was to understand factors that may lead to healthcare worker burnout and turnover through focus groups with Certified Nursing Assistants who worked in acute care hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Eight focus group discussions lasting approximately 30 minutes each were held remotely from October 2022\u2013January 2023 with current and former Certified Nursing Assistants who worked during the COVID-19 pandemic in acute care hospitals. Participants were recruited through various sources such as social media and outreach through professional organizations. The focus groups utilized open-ended prompts including topics such as challenges experienced during the pandemic, what could have improved their experiences working during the pandemic, and motivations for continuing or leaving their career in healthcare. The focus groups were coded using an immersion-crystallization technique and summarized using NVivo and Microsoft Excel. Participant demographic information was summarized overall and by current work status.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The focus groups included 58 Certified Nursing Assistants; 33 (57%) were current Certified Nursing Assistants and 25 (43%) were Certified Nursing Assistants who no longer work in healthcare. Throughout the focus groups, five convergent themes emerged, including staffing challenges, respect and recognition for Certified Nursing Assistants, the physical and mental toll of the job, facility leadership support, and pay and incentives.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Focus group discussions with Certified Nursing Assistants identified factors at individual and organizational levels that might contribute to burnout and staff turnover in healthcare settings. Suggestions from participants on improving their experiences included ensuring staff know they are valued, being included in conversations with leadership, and improving access to mental health resources.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0290880","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,30]],"date-time":"2023-08-30T17:29:20Z","timestamp":1693416560000},"page":"e0290880","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["Burnout and staff turnover among certified nursing assistants working in acute care hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5747-5072","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Rachel L.","family":"Snyder","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-8517-1939","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Laura E. A.","family":"Barnes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3605-6781","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Katelyn A.","family":"White","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ronda L.","family":"Cochran","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0290880.ref001","article-title":"The U.S. Surgeon General\u2019s Advisory on Building a Thriving Health Workforce.","year":"2022","journal-title":"U.S. Public Health Service"},{"key":"pone.0290880.ref002","article-title":"World Health Organization (WHO).","author":"International Classification of Diseases, Eleventh Revision (ICD-11)"},{"key":"pone.0290880.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100879","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eclinm.2021.100879","article-title":"Prevalence and Correlates of Stress and Burnout Among U.S. Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A National Cross-sectional Survey Study","volume":"35","author":"K Prasad","year":"2021","journal-title":"EClinicalMedicine"},{"key":"pone.0290880.ref004","article-title":"KFF\/The Washington Post Frontline Health Care Workers Survey","author":"A Kirzinger","year":"2021","journal-title":"KFF"},{"key":"pone.0290880.ref005","unstructured":"U.S. Healthcare Labor Market Report. 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