Abstract
Objectives To explore the magnitude and determinants of burnout among emergency physicians and nurses working at emergency departments of hospitals in Abha and Khamis Mushait cities. Subjects and Methods A cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted in emergency departments of hospitals in Abha and Khamis Mushait cities belonging to Ministry of Health. All physicians (n=95) and nurses (n=187) currently working at these sites were invited to participate in the study by filling a validated self-administered questionnaire including two main sections: personal and professional characteristics of physicians and nurses as well as Maslach burnout inventory (MBI) to assess the three components of the burnout syndrome: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. Results The study included 282 physicians and nurses. The age of more than half of them (54.3%) ranged between 31 and 35 years. Most of them (70.9%) were females. About two-thirds of the respondents (66.3%) were nurses while the remaining 33.7% were physicians. Majority of the emergency healthcare professionals (88.7%) had high emotional exhaustion. The prevalence of high depersonalization (cynicism) was 20.6% whereas that of low personal accomplishment was 41.1% among emergency healthcare professionals. The overall prevalence of burnout among healthcare professionals was 16.3%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that male healthcare professionals were at almost higher three-folded risk for developing burnout compared to females (aOR=2.76; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.21-6.28, p=0.017)). Smokers were at higher significant risk for burnout compared to nonsmokers (aOR=15.37; 95% CI: 7.06-33.45, p<0.001). Healthcare professionals who reported a history of taking medications for sleep disorders expressed higher risk for burnout opposed to those with no history of sleep disorder medication (aOR=6.59; 95% CI: 2.08-20.81, p=0.001). Conclusion A considerable proportion of physicians and nurses working at emergency departments of hospitals in Abha and Khamis Mushait cities had burnout syndrome, particularly high emotional exhaustion and low personal accomplishment.
Highlights
High emotional exhaustion (EE) was reported among 88.7% of the healthcare emergency staff; being significantly higher in nurses (92.5%) than physicians (81.1%), high depersonalization was reported among 20.6% of them, with no difference between physicians and nurses, whereas low personal accomplishment (PA) was reported among 41.1% of the emergency staff, being higher significantly in nurses (48.1%) than physicians (27.4%)
In accordance with Abdo et al [19] and Gosseries et al [20], the present study revealed that nurses experienced high EE compared to physicians
Logistic regression analysis in the current study revealed that male gender, having history of smoking and intake of medications for sleep disorders, was significantly associated with higher risk of burnout among emergency staff
Summary
Working in emergency medicine field for both physicians and nurses is a stressful job as it involves dealing with a workplace circumstances, including overcrowding, shift work, critical decisions made with incomplete information, and death that have been associated with high burnout factors [1, 2].Burn out syndrome is defined as “a syndrome of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) (impersonal response towards patients), and reduced personal accomplishment (PA) among individuals who work with people” [3].Clinical symptoms of burnout syndrome are nonspecific and include headaches, loss of energy, tiredness, lack ofThe Scientific World Journal motivation, eating problems, irritability, insomnia, negative attitudes towards others, rigidity in relationships with other people, physical illness, and emotional instability [2, 4, 5].Burnout syndrome imposes negative consequences on emergency (ER) physicians, their patients, and healthcare facilities as a result of disturbed mood of the medical staff, absenteeism, high rate of turnover, and patient dissatisfaction as a result of affection of the quality of care [6, 7]. Working in emergency medicine field for both physicians and nurses is a stressful job as it involves dealing with a workplace circumstances, including overcrowding, shift work, critical decisions made with incomplete information, and death that have been associated with high burnout factors [1, 2]. Clinical symptoms of burnout syndrome are nonspecific and include headaches, loss of energy, tiredness, lack of. Burnout syndrome imposes negative consequences on emergency (ER) physicians, their patients, and healthcare facilities as a result of disturbed mood of the medical staff, absenteeism, high rate of turnover, and patient dissatisfaction as a result of affection of the quality of care [6, 7]. Emergency medicine workers (physicians and nurses) have been found to have a greater risk of burnout compared to other medical professionals [9]
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