Burnout Among Respiratory Therapists Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Respir Care
; 67(12): 1578-1587, 2022 12.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1975121
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Burnout is a major challenge in health care and is associated with poor overall well-being, increased medical errors, worse patient outcomes, and low job satisfaction. There is scant literature focused on the respiratory therapist's (RT) experience of burnout, and a thorough exploration of RTs' perception of factors associated with burnout has not been reported. The aim of this qualitative study was to understand the factors associated with burnout as experienced by RTs amid the COVID-19 pandemic.METHODS:
We performed a post hoc, qualitative analysis of free-text responses from a survey of burnout prevalence in RTs.RESULTS:
There were 1,114 total and 220 free-text responses. Five overarching themes emerged from theanalysis:
staffing, workload, physical/emotional consequences, lack of effective leadership, and lack of respect. Respondents discussed feelings of anxiety, depression, and compassion fatigue as well as concerns that lack of adequate staffing, high workload assignments, and inadequate support from leadership contributed to feelings of burnout. Specific instances of higher patient acuity, surge in critically ill patients, rapidly evolving changes in treatment recommendations, and minimal training and preparation for an extended scope of practice were reported as stressors that led to burnout. Some respondents stated that they felt a lack of respect for both the RT profession and the contribution of RTs to patient care.CONCLUSIONS:
Themes associated with burnout in RTs included staffing, workload, physical and emotional exhaustion, lack of effective leadership, and lack of respect. These results provide potential targets for interventions to combat burnout among RTs.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Burnout, Professional
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Qualitative research
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Respir Care
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS