Intra-shift affective dynamics in emergency unit workers: temporal deterioration and recovery windows

Burnout research typically relies on global self-report measures that provide limited information about affective experience across the workday. Inspired by the Day Reconstruction Method, this exploratory study examined reconstructed intra-shift well-being-distress trajectories among 76 emergency healthcare workers. Participants completed a structured hourly reconstruction of a typical workday from T-2 to T14, together with measures of burnout and emotional dysregulation. Descriptive analyses, Pearson correlations, and sex-based mean comparisons were conducted, with false discovery rate corrections applied to the inferential analyses. The mean reconstructed trajectory showed an initial increase in well-being before and shortly after shift onset, a progressive decline across much of the shift, and an increase in affective valence during the post-shift period. All correlations between adjacent reconstructed time points remained significant after correction, providing exploratory support for short-range cross-time rank-order consistency. Although unadjusted correlations suggested less favorable ratings at selected time points among participants with higher burnout and emotional dysregulation scores, none remained significant after correction. Likewise, no time-specific sex comparison survived correction. These preliminary findings suggest that considering when affective declines occur across emergency shifts may help organizations identify candidate periods for brief support actions, such as supervisory check-ins, team support, or recovery opportunities. However, because the trajectories were retrospectively reconstructed, the timing and effectiveness of such micro-interventions should be evaluated in larger real-time studies before informing organizational practice.