2025/04/16 by Joshua D. Silvestre, Alex C. Kim, Tourna N. Khan +3 · 1 voice
Health Professions · #Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout #Workplace Health and Well-being #Occupational Health and Safety Research
paper · doi:10.1080/15555240.2025.2491391
openalex publication_date 2025/04/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/15
Little is known about how workplace safety climate might affect the mental health of healthcare workers, particularly those in lower-wage occupations. We examined cross-sectional data from a sample of US healthcare workers (N = 200). We examined the effects of workers’ perceived workplace safety on anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology, separately, using stratified models (healthcare prescribers and administrators, n = 49 vs. other healthcare workers, n = 151). Final models controlled for gender and healthcare setting. Mental health symptomatology was prevalent: 59.5% had moderate or worse anxiety, 29.5% had moderate or worse depression, and 22.5% had a probable PTSD diagnosis. Among prescribers and administrators, there were no significant associations between workplace safety score and anxiety, depression, or PTSD symptomology (ps > 0.05). However, among other healthcare workers, greater perceived workplace safety was associated with lower anxiety (p < 0.05), depression symptomatology (p < 0.01), and PTSD symptomatology at a trend-level (p < 0.10). Findings suggest many healthcare workers experience anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptomatology and that workplace safety climate may be a modifiable risk factor. Moreover, non-prescriber/administrator healthcare workers may be more likely to work in and be susceptible to the effects of unsafe environments.