How general practitioners used job crafting strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden

ObjectiveGeneral practitioners (GPs) played a crucial role in limiting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and many GPs experienced they did not have the prerequisites to provide adequate care. However, GPs developed approaches that helped them to provide care to patients through various job crafting strategies. The aim of this study is to identify how job crafting strategies were deployed by GPs at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden and the significance of the strategies on their work situation.DesignA qualitative design with semi-structured interviews. The data was analysed using qualitative content analysis with job crafting as the conceptual framework for the analysis process.SettingPrimary healthcare in five healthcare regions in Sweden.SubjectsFourteen GPs participated in individual interviews.ResultsIn their endeavours to organise and provide care, GPs shaped the task, relational and cognitive boundaries of their work. GPs felt proud about finding new ways of working when given room to manoeuvre. Intensified collaboration between healthcare professionals made GPs more confident in their clinical work. GPs expressed that they consequently felt stronger in their professional role through what they accomplished in the organisation of care.Conclusions/ImplicationsThe results suggest that the job crafting strategies GPs used were meaningful to them in clinical practice. Knowledge about how GPs' job crafting strategies were deployed might be useful for healthcare organisations in preparing for future health crises. Taking advantage of GPs' experiences and strategies is considered important for promoting sustainable working conditions for GPs in the future. During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden, general practitioners took immediate action to re-organise their day-to-day work tasks.To manage professional uncertainty about how to provide the best possible care, general practitioners sought support from other healthcare peers.The professional self-confidence of general practitioners increased through what they accomplished when facing a major health crisis.