The Interplay Between Staff Wellbeing, Burnout, and Patient Safety in Healthcare

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, escalating shortages of healthcare professionals, rising patient demands, and the lingering effects of public health emergencies such as COVID-19 have amplified the physical, emotional, and psychological burdens placed on healthcare professionals. These challenges led to alarming rates of occupational stress, burnout, and mental health problems among staff, which are now widely recognized as critical threats not only to the wellbeing of healthcare professionals themselves but also to patient safety and the quality of care.

In light of the above, we are pleased to invite you to contribute to a Special Issue of Healthcare entitled “The Interplay Between Staff Wellbeing, Burnout, and Patient Safety in Healthcare”.

A growing body of interdisciplinary research highlights how staff wellbeing and professional satisfaction are closely linked to medical errors, adverse events, patient satisfaction, and organizational performance. Burnout among healthcare workers has been associated with reduced empathy, impaired cognitive function, and higher rates of absenteeism—all of which compromise care continuity and safety.

This Special Issue will explore the critical intersection of healthcare workers’ mental health, burnout prevention, and the impact on patient care and safety. As healthcare systems continue to face growing challenges, understanding how staff wellbeing directly influences both the quality of care provided to patients and the overall functioning of healthcare institutions has never been more urgent. We hope to stimulate a multidisciplinary dialog that informs healthcare management, policy, and clinical practice, ensuring high-quality, patient-centered care in the face of escalating global health pressures.

This Special Issue aims to advance research into the factors contributing to healthcare staff wellbeing and burnout, and how these issues influence patient safety and quality of care. The issue will explore not only the identification of these challenges but also propose interventions and strategies for improvement. The scope aligns well with the journal's focus on healthcare quality, management, and policy, and this Special Issue will provide critical insights for healthcare professionals, administrators, policymakers, and researchers committed to improving both staff wellbeing and patient care quality and safety.

We welcome a variety of submissions, including original research articles and systematic reviews. Potential research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Impact of staff wellbeing on patient safety;
• Prevalence and determinants of burnout, compassion fatigue, and moral injury among healthcare professionals;
• Strategies to foster resilience and reduce occupational stress and burnout in healthcare professionals;
• Organizational practices promoting staff mental health;
• The role of leadership in fostering a supportive work environment and influencing staff engagement and psychological safety;
• Psychological safety and its relationship with error reporting and adverse events;
• Policy interventions aimed at improving healthcare staff retention and job satisfaction;
• Economic and social costs of healthcare worker burnout for healthcare systems and society;
• Cross-cultural and international perspectives on staff wellbeing and patient safety.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Dr. Anna Maria Cybulska
Dr. Marta Nowak
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• healthcare employee satisfaction
• healthcare policy
• healthcare staff wellbeing
• healthcare worker burnout
• occupational stress in healthcare
• professional quality of life
• resilience
• staff motivation and engagement
• working conditions
• work–life balance in healthcare