Job burnout, caused by persistent occupational nervous tension, is a psychological syndrome [1]. It is common among healthcare personnel, and affects healthcare workers’ physical and mental health [1]. A systematic review of prospective studies found that job burnout was a considerable predictor of several physical and psychological consequences [2]. Therefore, job burnout can also put patient safety at risk [1]. This is of particular concern when a disaster comes about [3]. In this regard, the stress of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has extremely pressurized the healthcare system, thereby escalating the risk of job burnout among healthcare personnel [1, 3]. In this regard, several elements of job demands and job resources, as well as one personal resource (self-efficacy) have been identified as considerable predictors of job burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic [4]. In addition to healthcare personnel, it is important to learn that visuospatial impairment is of concern in patients with COVID-19 [3].

Job burnout can affect cognition, and lead to cognitive impairment [5]. Executive function is the cognitive domain that undergoes the most negative impact by job burnout [5]. All multifaceted tasks have need of skills that are related to the proper performance of executive functions [3]. Episodic memory deficits, learning problems, reduced problem-solving, and difficulties in focusing during daily activities have also been reported to occur due to job burnout [1].

Few studies have so far investigated the effect of job burnout on the visuospatial ability of different types of workers [5,6,7,8,9,10]. Among these studies, two studies [7, 9] looked at special operation military personnel and patients previously diagnosed with work-stress-related exhaustion correspondingly, and found no conclusive findings related to visuospatial ability due to several factors, including the design of their studies. One [8] of them found no effects of job burnout on the visuospatial ability of patients with stress-related exhaustion compared with healthy controls. Another study [6], which recruited females only, also found no effects of job burnout on the visuospatial ability of patients treated for chronic burnout compared with healthy controls, but they reported impairments in visuospatial short- and long-term memory. However, two studies [5, 10] found diminished visuospatial performance caused by non-clinical job burnout.

Furthermore, due to the burnout-depression overlap, it is difficult to determine a conclusion whether visuospatial skills are affected by burnout or depression. Burnout overlaps with depression in several areas, such as etiology, reported symptoms, behaviorally-indexed processing of emotional information, allostatic load, and dispositional correlates and predictors (e.g., neuroticism, pessimistic explanatory style, and interpersonal rejection sensitivity) [3]. Additionally, burnout and depression have been demonstrated to lead to similar occupational consequences, such as diminished work performance, absenteeism, and job turnover [3]. If subtypes of depression (e.g., depression with melancholic characteristics and depression with atypical characteristics) are taken into account in biological research, it is easier to distinguish between burnout and depression [3]. However, even if burnout is considered to be a risk factor for the development of depression, no study has assessed the relationship between depression and visuospatial abilities in the context of burnout yet [3].

Although the effect of job burnout on the visuospatial ability of healthcare workers has rarely been studied, these above-mentioned studies can be warning. This is even more important during pandemics, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, in which healthcare workers are persistently at high alerts [3].

Since chronic stress caused by job burnout may induce negative effects on the hippocampal neural activity (through the suppression of ongoing neurogenesis of granule cells in the dentate gyrus and remodeling of dendrites in the pyramidal cells of the Ammon’s horn) and hippocampal volume (by atrophy of the human hippocampus), resulting in memory and visuospatial functioning deficits [1, 3], and for the fact that the negative effects of job burnout on cognition have broadly been reported in the general population [3], the author proposes his hypothesis that visuospatial abilities can also be affected in healthcare workers in due course. This hypothesis opens a new invitation for all clinicians and researchers to come forward and put this idea into practice.

In conclusion, in view of the fact that diminished visuospatial abilities can put patient safety at risk, the effect of job burnout on visuospatial abilities has important clinical implications in healthcare workers. Considering the destructive effect of job burnout on cognition, the author proposes his hypothesis that visuospatial abilities can also be affected in due course. Therefore, the author urges clinicians and researchers to assess the effect of job burnout on the visuospatial abilities of healthcare workers, as this function plays an important role in the daily work of these individuals. This proposal also calls on policymakers to develop protective strategies and programs to deal with this issue, thereby creating a better quality of healthcare system.