Burnout in Oncology Clinical Research Coordinators: Underlying Factors and Role of Empathy as a Moderator

Clinical research coordinators (CRCs) are essential for the conduct of oncology clinical trials. They work under demanding conditions and face unique emotional stressors that may lead to burnout and high turnover. Yet, little research has examined factors influencing burnout in this population.

We used validated, structured questionnaires to investigate personal factors associated with burnout among oncology CRCs in Israel. Specifically, we tested a moderated mediation model linking job engagement and role overload to burnout via job satisfaction, with empathy as a moderator.

An online survey was completed by 140 CRCs; after excluding cases with excessive missing data, 121 responses were analyzed. In bivariate analyses, job engagement was positively correlated with job satisfaction (r = 0.56, P < .001), role overload was negatively correlated with job satisfaction (r = -0.29, P < .05), and job satisfaction was negatively correlated with burnout (r = -0.58, P < .001). Empathy showed moderate, significant correlations with job engagement and job satisfaction. In the integrative moderated mediation model, higher empathy strengthened the indirect effects of both role overload and job engagement on burnout via job satisfaction (job engagement → job satisfaction → burnout: indirect effect at low empathy = -0.46 [95% CI, -0.77 to -0.18], moderate = -0.66 [-0.95 to -0.41], high = -0.83 [-1.24 to -0.46]; role overload → job satisfaction → burnout: indirect effect at low = 0.15 [0.06 to .26], moderate = 0.22 [0.12 to 0.33], high = 0.27 [0.13 to 0.43]). Findings are discussed in the context of the Conservation of Resources theory.

This study adds to the literature on CRC burnout by highlighting empathy's moderating role and its potential implications for CRC workforce well-being, retention, and organizational practices (eg, incorporating empathy screening into recruitment, training to enhance empathic skills, and interventions to increase job engagement and reduce role overload).