Prevalence of Emotional Exhaustion Among Respiratory Therapists

Respiratory therapists (RTs) face high burnout risk, with rates as high as 79% reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesized that the rate of burnout has decreased since the COVID-19 pandemic.

We performed a multi-center, multinational study between January 6 and February 1, 2025, evaluating the prevalence of RT burnout. Validated survey instruments were used to measure emotional exhaustion (burnout), incivility, intent to leave, and leadership.

We received 1,033 responses (34% response rate). Seven hundred nineteen (70%) respondents were burned out, with 330 (32%) mild, 299 (29%) moderate, and 90 (9%) severe burnout. Statistically significant factors associated with increased burnout risk were work environment (odds ratio [OR] 16.9), intention to leave (OR 13.2), high perceived workload (OR 7.57), incivility exposure, (OR 3.92) activities restricted because of illness (OR 3.4), unable to complete all their work for >50% of shifts (OR 2.34), missed work for any reason (OR 1.92), worked 31-50 h in the ICU (OR 1.75), and a bachelor's degree (OR 1.55). Statistically significant factors associated with a lower risk of burnout were felt valued by their organization (OR 0.15), positive leadership score (OR 0.18), perceived their manager cared about them as a person (OR 0.18), satisfied with pay (OR 0.32), <2 years as an RT (OR 0.42), male gender (OR 0.72), Black or African American (OR 0.51), and more likely to report spending their day doing high value activities (OR 0.68).

Emotional exhaustion was reported by 70% of RTs, a modest decrease since the COVID-19 pandemic. RT emotional exhaustion was associated with turnover intentions and missing work, and RT exposure to incivility was a stronger association than workload or demographic variables.