A Model of Burnout Among Healthcare Professionals

Area of Science:

• Medical Research
• Psychology
• Public Health

Background:

• Healthcare worker burnout is prevalent and negatively impacts patient outcomes.
• Understanding factors contributing to and mitigating burnout is crucial for healthcare systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the structural relationships between factors that protect against or exacerbate burnout among intensive care unit (ICU) professionals.
• To identify key predictors and mediators of burnout in a Japanese ICU setting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional survey was administered to 936 ICU professionals across 15 Japanese ICUs during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Validated instruments measured burnout (Mini Z 2.0), resilience (Brief Resilience Scale), depressive (PHQ-9) and anxiety (GAD-7) symptoms, work environment characteristics, and COVID-19 experiences.
• Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the relationships between these variables.

Main Results:

• 24.3% of surveyed ICU professionals reported burnout.
• Higher resilience (β = -0.26), stronger teamwork (β = -0.23), and feeling safe (β = -0.11) were associated with reduced burnout.
• Depression (β = -0.32), anxiety (β = -0.20), and COVID fear (β = 0.08) were linked to decreased resilience, with anxiety also indirectly increasing COVID fear, further reducing resilience.

Conclusions:

• Burnout is a significant issue among Japanese ICU professionals.
• Resilience, teamwork, and a sense of safety are protective factors against burnout.
• Depression, anxiety, and COVID fear contribute to burnout, primarily through diminished resilience, highlighting these as potential intervention targets.