Abstract
Objective:The authors measured burnout among health sciences librarians at their institution and determined whether a serious game intervention could improve personal and workplace well-being.Methods:A modified American Medical Association Mini-Z burnout survey was administered to library faculty in 2016 and both library faculty and staff in 2017. A three-month team-based game was implemented and assessed as an intervention to improve well-being among library employees. After the game, the burnout survey was re-administered to employees in 2018.Results:Library faculty scored poorly on burnout indicators, with 38%–73% of faculty reporting emotional exhaustion and 54%–91% reporting job-related stress over the years. In 2017, 62% of library staff members reported experiencing burnout and 38% indicated they felt a great deal of stress because of their jobs. Regarding the game intervention, 70% of post-game survey respondents reported that the game encouraged them to socialize with colleagues. Qualitative coding of survey responses resulted in 4 themes describing the most enjoyable aspects of the game: sociability, motivation, game play, and fun. Employees found that the game was a useful strategy for encouraging a more social culture with fun activities.Conclusions:Similar to previous studies of librarians and health professionals, health sciences librarians at our institution experienced burnout. Although the game intervention did not significantly reduce burnout or increase job satisfaction, it improved collegiality and recognition. Therefore, a workplace well-being game can encourage team building but may not sufficiently address the root causes of health sciences librarian burnout.
Highlights
Burnout is defined as a “psychological syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment” [1]
As Maslach writes, “the lack of efficacy seems to arise more clearly from a lack of relevant resources, whereas exhaustion and cynicism emerge from the presence of work overload and social conflict” [2]
In 2016, only library faculty were eligible to participate in the survey, and the survey had an 80% response rate
Summary
Burnout is defined as a “psychological syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment” [1]. Emotional exhaustion includes feelings of exhaustion and/or discouragement, which prompts actions to distance oneself emotionally and cognitively from one’s work [2]. The last element of burnout, reduced personal accomplishment or inefficacy, “refers to the tendency to evaluate oneself jmla.mlanet.org. 108 (4) October 2020 negatively...workers may feel unhappy about themselves and dissatisfied with their accomplishments on the job” [1]. These three psychological phenomena happen both in parallel and sequentially under various circumstances. To measure the frequency and intensity of burnout, researchers have developed and validated multiple surveys to selfassess burnout risk, including the American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) Mini-Z survey [3, 4]
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