An Exploration of Substance Abuse by Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review

Objective This scoping review aims to identify available literature and research on substance abuse by healthcare workers (HCWs) during the COVID-19 pandemic to examine whether the stress of their duties during the pandemic exacerbated existing issues of substance abuse. Methods A literature search using PubMed and Google Scholar using Harzing Publish or Perish identified 100 relevant professionally-authored, peer-reviewed, English-language academic articles published between 2015 and 2025 on substance abuse by HCWs. Exclusions were done via a review of the abstract and then from the full text, reducing the number of articles to three from those three articles which generated an additional 15 articles of relevance to the subject. Results Themes identified include that substance abuse by HCWs being linked with an increased risk of self-harm and suicide, and that high levels of stress during the pandemic increased their rate of substance abuse. These themes suggest an increased risk of self-harm amongst HCWs arising from that stress and fueled in part by substance abuse. Conclusion This scoping review highlights the issue of substance abuse as a problem by stressed HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. By doing so, governments, hospitals, or other stakeholders may provide increased mental health support to reduce substance abuse by healthcare workers and to support them during a public health emergency. Keywords Nurse, Healthcare workers, COVID, Stress, Coping, Physician, Drug, Alcohol, Substance Abuse