The Effect of Workload on Healthcare Professionals Performance and Well-being
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Abstract
Workload has emerged as one of the most consequential determinants of both the technical performance and the psychological well-being of healthcare professionals worldwide. As Saudi Arabia advances its Vision 2030 healthcare transformation agenda—expanding service capacity, digitizing care through platforms such as Nphies, and tightening quality benchmarks under CBAHI and SFDA—the workforce charged with delivering that transformation faces intensifying demands on time, attention, and emotional reserve. This paper synthesizes workload theory, including the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, the Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) model, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) constructs, to examine how excessive or poorly distributed workload degrades clinical performance, compromises patient safety, and erodes practitioner well-being. It introduces an original workforce-management framework, RESET (Recognize, Evaluate, Support, Empower, Transform), designed to translate workload theory into actionable institutional practice consistent with SCFHS scope-of-practice standards and Mumaris+ credentialing infrastructure. The paper closes with policy-relevant recommendations for hospital administrators and workforce planners operating within the Kingdom's evolving regulatory environment.
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