Well-Being, Work Environment, and Control Over Workload Accounting for Burnout Among Medical School Staff

Research on well-being and burnout of administrative medical school staff has received little attention compared with faculty and learners. This study investigates the extent to which well-being domains, work environment, and control over workload account for administrative staff burnout.

The authors developed and administered a comprehensive well-being survey to the University of Minnesota Medical School administrative staff (N = 2,367) from April 17 to June 7, 2022, with 1,027 providing complete responses (43% response rate). Ordinal logistic regression was used with 7 independent variables (basics, safety, respect, appreciation, contribution, work environment, and control over workload) and 1 dependent variable (burnout). To identify the amount of variance explained in the outcome variable by each well-being domain, work environment, and control over workload, the authors added each of the 7 independent variables hierarchically.

Well-being domains were positively correlated with one another but negatively associated with burnout. Well-being domains, work environment, and control over workload explained approximately 45% of the variance in medical school administrative staff burnout. A 1-unit increase in the basics well-being domain and work environment was each associated with 18% reductions in medical staff's burnout. Descriptively, 47 (4.57%), 191 (18.57%), 347 (33.81%), 354 (34.48%), and 88 (8.57%) of the staff reported poor, marginal, satisfactory, good, and optimal control over their workload, respectively. Compared with staff reporting poor control over workload, those who reported satisfactory, good, and optimal control experienced 63%, 70%, and 80% lower levels of burnout, respectively.

Although this study affirmed the hierarchical nature of the 5 well-being domains, staff who reported lacking basics, perceived their work environment to be less supportive, or had less control over workload reported higher burnout. Accordingly, ability to control workload, supportive work environment, and focus on foundational basics have the potential to reduce burnout and improve well-being.