Transplant Surgeon Burnout and Marital Distress in the Sandwich Generation: The Call for Organizational Support in Family Life.

Burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment) is the enervation an individual experiences from a chronically taxing work environment. Little research has examined the demands of the sandwich generation (both children and older adults in the home) on burnout and marital satisfaction. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional survey of American and European transplant surgeons on the effects of sandwich generation-related demands on burnout and marital satisfaction, covarying for transplant surgeon age. RESULTS: A total of 286 married or partnered transplant surgeons were included. Presence (vs absence) of children in the home did not impact burnout, but those with children who reported difficulties with flexible childcare reported greater emotional exhaustion (P = .03) and depersonalization (P = .02) than those without difficulties. A total of 38.5% of married transplant surgeons reported marital distress. European transplant surgeons reported lower marital satisfaction than those from the United States (P < .01). Having an older adult in the home may also negatively impact transplant surgeons' marital satisfaction (P = .048). DISCUSSION: As health care organizations move forward with programs aimed at creating a sustainable workforce, providing professional environments supportive of important family-related demands is imperative.

Determinants of burnout among transplant surgeons: a national survey in the United States.

Burnout is a response to chronic strain within the workplace characterized by feelings of inefficacy (reduced personal accomplishment), cynicism (depersonalization) and emotional exhaustion. The purpose of this study was to report prevalence and explore organizational and interpersonal contributors of burnout in transplant surgeons. We performed a national cross-sectional survey of 218 transplant surgeons on sociodemographics, professional characteristics, frequency of difficult patient interactions and comfort in dealing with difficult patient interactions, decisional authority, psychological job demands, supervisor and coworker support, with burnout as the outcome. 40.1% reported high levels of emotional exhaustion, 17.1% reported high levels of depersonalization and 46.5% reported low personal accomplishment. Greater emotional exhaustion was predicted by lower decisional authority, higher psychological work demands, and lower coworker support. Greater discomfort with difficult patient interactions and lower coworker support predicted depersonalization. Lastly, lower decisional authority, lower coworker support, less frequent difficult patient interactions but greater discomfort with difficult patient interactions predicted lower personal accomplishment. The findings of this study show that unsupportive environments with little decisional control and high work-related demands contribute to the development of burnout in transplant surgeons. Implications for interventions aimed at prevention of burnout in transplant surgeons are discussed.