An eye center-wide burnout intervention: resilience program and burnout survey

Burnout affects half of doctors in the United States. Programs to decrease burnout and foster resilience are needed to prevent loss of doctors in the workforce and maintain quality care. To ameliorate burnout at our eye center, we developed a resilience program and used a survey to identify additional groups with higher burnout for future interventions.

The eye center-wide resilience program consisted of the baseline burnout survey, short email wellness tips, a grand rounds presentation, short wellness presentations at faculty meetings, and a small group discussion series with clinical faculty. The anonymous burnout survey was performed prospectively online at the beginning of this program. The survey participants consisted of respondents at the Duke Eye Center, including all doctors, scientists, clinical and research staff, trainees, and administrative and educational staff, in June and July of 2017. The short, anonymous electronic survey consisted of 10 demographic questions, 2 validated burnout questions, and 1 validated work-life balance question.

A total of 593 individuals were invited to participate, of whom 252 completed the survey. Overall, 37% of the respondents reported being emotionally exhausted, and 17% had experienced depersonalization. With regard to work-life balance, 43% of the respondents were satisfied and 34% were dissatisfied. Burnout was higher in respondents who participated in clinical care (P = 0.001), particularly among ophthalmic technicians (P = 0.044). Feedback from the doctors participating in the "Doctors Lounge" suggested perceived benefits, including enhanced collegiality, life skills, and improved self-management.

Our baseline burnout survey showed higher burnout in our clinical workers, particularly in our ophthalmic technicians. Planning for next year will include the providers identified in the survey.