Burnout in Certified Anesthesiologist Assistants

Certified anesthesiologist assistants (CAAs) are Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) within the anesthesia care team. This research evaluated their burnout. CAAs were surveyed nationally about their professional/work characteristics, perceived fairness of salary/benefits compared to certified registered nurse anesthetists/CAAs, the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS), the Conditions for Work Effectiveness Questionnaire II, and questions regarding wellness resources at their place of employment. The survey was completed by 457 respondents (19.7%). Of them, 110 (24.1%) scored high on the Emotional Exhaustion subscale of the MBI-HSS. Factors associated with greater emotional exhaustion included younger age, full-time status, perception that salary/benefits were unfair/inadequate compared to other CAAs, more information about the state of their employer and related values/goals of administration, but fewer resources (i.e., time), lower job-related empowerment, and lower formal power. Forty-seven (10.3%) scored high on the Depersonalization subscale. Factors associated with greater depersonalization include younger age, full-time status, more information about state of employer and related values/goals, but less global empowerment, which predicted greater depersonalization. CAAs may report lower levels of burnout compared to other professionals in the anesthesia team but are, nonetheless, susceptible to effects of burnout. Both leaders of organizations and the APPs themselves hold responsibility in protecting against burnout.