Resilience and professional identity among young healthcare workers in a Shanghai megahospital during Covid-19

A cross-sectional study

Bibliographic Data

ID22073374
AuthorsDi Xu (0000-0001-5464-9858, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, corresponding author), Yaxu Zhou (Renji Hospital), Yuru Yan (0009-0000-9884-0603, Shanghai Jiao Tong University), Yan Wang (0009-0009-9633-0023, Shanghai Jiao Tong University), Ye Le, Le Ye (0000-0003-0599-7762, Shanghai Jiao Tong University), Yuchun Ma (Renji Hospital), Chunming Wang (0000-0001-9185-9678, Renji Hospital), Ying Zhou (0000-0001-7335-5601, Renji Hospital)
Year2025
Volume13
Pages1632053-1632053
Publication date2025-07-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrontiers in Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2296-2565 • E-ISSN: 2296-2565
PublisherFrontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fpubh.2025.1632053
PMID40746684
OpenAlexW4412856131
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited38

Background: Public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic place immense psychological and professional pressure on healthcare workers, particularly those early in their careers. While much research has focused on burnout and stress, fewer studies have examined the role of professional identity and its organizational determinants among actively employed young healthcare professionals. Methods: This cross-sectional study surveyed 326 young healthcare workers (≤40 years old) across clinical, research, and administrative roles in a megahospital in Shanghai, China. A validated multidimensional scale was used to assess professional identity. Independent variables included job satisfaction, workload, exposure to high-risk duties, and perceived organizational support (including satisfaction with humanistic care and working conditions). Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis H tests, and multivariate linear regression were employed. Results: = 0.003) were strong predictors of higher professional identity scores. Significant differences in professional identity were observed based on gender, income satisfaction, and exposure to COVID-19 patients. Conclusion: This study highlights the essential role of organizational resources-particularly perceived humanistic care and adequate working conditions-in sustaining professional identity among young healthcare professionals during public health emergencies. The findings underscore the need for system-level interventions that support resilience and workforce stability. These insights may inform global strategies for healthcare human resource management in high-pressure contexts

Burnout · Cross-sectional study · Health care · Job satisfaction · Management · Political science · Psychological intervention · Psychological resilience · Public health · Workforce · Workload · Clinical Psychology · COVID-19 and Mental Health · Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Resilience and Mental Health · Social Psychology