ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 global pandemic caused major disruptions to everyday life and might have permanently altered the workplace. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is no exception. The VA has over 400,000 employees and encompasses one of the largest healthcare systems in the world, as well as comprehensive benefits and burial services to US war veterans. This makes VA a valuable example for examining the impact of the pandemic on many different work settings and occupational roles, all with pre-pandemic data comparisons. The rapid transition to telework for all VA staff in non-essential positions, the critical care VA provided for a new emerging disease, and the stress of ongoing uncertainty and change were all captured in the VA All Employee Survey, an annual census of workplace attitudes and outcomes. In this chapter, we take an intimate look at burnout within VA, including who felt the most burned out, why, how changes in telework and perceptions of organisational support during the pandemic influenced stress and burnout dynamics, and how the experience of burnout and its drivers have and have not changed.
