Staff burnout and patient satisfaction: evidence of relationships at the care unit level

Research on burnout has thus far focused primarily on the individual; however, in work environments in which teamwork is emphasized, it seems plausible that a meaningful group-level burnout construct could emerge. This theory was tested by examining burnout in psychosocial rehabilitation teams and its effects on patient satisfaction. Three hundred thirty-three staff from 31 behavioral health teams completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory; 405 of the clients they served completed the Consumer Satisfaction Scale. Multilevel analyses (hierarchical linear modeling) confirmed the existence of a meaningful team-level burnout construct. Team-level analyses revealed significant relationships between team burnout and patient satisfaction.