Burnout in Social Work: A Review of the Literature within the Context of COVID-19

Burnout in social work is a long-standing professional issue. Social workers work tirelessly to provide empathetic care to clients and communities. However, stressful work conditions can contribute to burnout, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue. While burnout has been studied extensively within social work practice, new data is emerging about COVID-19's unique impact on burnout among social workers. This review first discusses general factors that contribute to social workers' experiences of burnout, and then explores how issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated burnout for social workers. COVID-19 also provided a learning opportunity for how burnout can be mitigated. The review concludes with a call to action for next steps in both research and policy pertaining to social work and burnout.