Factors driving burnout and professional fulfillment among emergency medicine residents: A national wellness survey by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify rates of and contributors to burnout and professional fulfillment among emergency medicine (EM) resident physicians. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, national survey of resident members of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM). Primary outcomes were burnout and professional fulfillment measured using a previously validated instrument with additional domains pertaining to the academic environment. The survey included question domains examining organizational factors (e.g., academic work environment, satisfaction with training, electronic health records, values alignment, and control over schedule) and individual factors (e.g., self-compassion, meaningfulness of clinical work, impact of work on health and personal relationships, perceived appreciation, thoughts of attrition, and expectations of the field of EM). Logistic regression was performed to determine the relationships between the primary outcomes and each domain. Results: The survey was sent electronically to 2641 SAEM resident members. A total of 275 residents completed the survey with a response rate of 10.4%. A total of 151 (55%) respondents were male, and 210 (76%) were White. A total of 132 (48%) residents reported burnout, and 75 (28%) reported professional fulfillment. All organizational and individual factors were significantly associated with both primary outcomes. EM residents reported that meaningfulness of clinical work had the most significant positive association with professional fulfillment (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.2 [95% confidence interval {CI} 1.8-2.7]) and negative association with burnout (adjusted OR 0.46 [95% CI 0.37-0.56]). Thoughts of attrition from academics and accurate expectations of EM were also associated with both primary outcomes, with adjusted ORs (95% CIs) of 0.40 (0.21-0.72) and 5.6 (1.9-23.8) for professional fulfillment and 4.1 (2.5-7.1) and 0.19 (0.08-0.40) for burnout, respectively. Conclusions: This study found a high prevalence of burnout and a low prevalence of professional fulfillment among EM residents. Multiple factors were significantly associated with each occupational phenomenon, with meaningfulness of clinical work demonstrating the strongest relationships with burnout and professional fulfillment.

Drivers of professional fulfillment and burnout among emergency medicine faculty: A national wellness survey by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

BACKGROUND: Professional fulfillment and the mitigation of burnout can enhance clinician well-being and the resiliency of the health care organization. This study examined the extent to which specific individual and workplace factors are associated with professional fulfillment and burnout among a national sample of academic emergency physicians. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey of faculty members of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. Primary outcomes were professional fulfillment and burnout. The survey also examined individual and workplace factors as well as faculty's thoughts of attrition from academic and clinical medicine. Logistic regression was performed to determine the relationships between each outcome and each factor, respectively. RESULTS: A total of 771 of 3130 faculty completed the survey (response rate 24.6%). A total of 38.7% reported professional fulfillment and 39.1% reported burnout. Meaningfulness of work (odds ratio [OR] 2.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.9-2.5), perceived appreciation (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.7-2.1), and the academic work environment (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.5-1.9) had the highest odds of being associated with professional fulfillment. In contrast, low score responses for meaningfulness of work (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.5-0.6), self-compassion (0.6, 95% CI 0.5-0.6), and control over schedule (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.6-0.7) were most associated with burnout. Faculty with professional fulfillment were less likely to report plans for attrition from academics (OR 0.1, 95% CI 0.1-0.2) and from clinical medicine (OR 0.2, 95% CI 0.1-0.4). Faculty with burnout were more likely to report plans for attrition from academics (OR 7, 95% CI 4.8-10.4) and clinical medicine (OR 5.7, 95% CI 3.9-8.6). CONCLUSIONS: Individual and workplace factors that contributed to professional fulfillment and burnout were identified, with meaningfulness of clinical work demonstrating the strongest association with both occupational phenomena. Knowledge of which factors are most impactful in promoting professional fulfillment and mitigating burnout may be useful in guiding efforts to enhance clinician well-being.

Are Nonpharmacologic Pain Interventions Effective at Reducing Pain in Adult Patients Visiting the Emergency Department? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Pain is a common complaint in the emergency department (ED). Its management currently depends heavily on pharmacologic treatment, but evidence suggests that nonpharmacologic interventions may be beneficial. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess whether nonpharmacologic interventions in the ED are effective in reducing pain. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of the literature on all types of nonpharmacologic interventions in the ED with pain reduction as an outcome. We performed a qualitative summary of all studies meeting inclusion criteria and meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies measuring postintervention changes in pain. Interventions were divided by type into five categories for more focused subanalyses. RESULTS: Fifty-six studies met inclusion criteria for summary analysis. The most studied interventions were acupuncture (10 studies) and physical therapy (six studies). The type of pain most studied was musculoskeletal pain (34 studies). Most (42 studies) reported at least one improved outcome after intervention. Of these, 23 studies reported significantly reduced pain compared to control, 24 studies showed no difference, and nine studies had no control group. Meta-analysis included 22 qualifying randomized controlled trials and had a global standardized mean difference of -0.46 (95% confidence interval = -0.66 to -0.27) in favor of nonpharmacologic interventions for reducing pain. CONCLUSION: Nonpharmacologic interventions are often effective in reducing pain in the ED. However, most existing studies are small, warranting further investigation into their use for optimizing ED pain management.

Independent Predictors of 30-Day Perioperative Deep Vein Thrombosis in 1346 Consecutive Patients After Spine Surgery.

BACKGROUND: Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a morbid postsurgical complication. Identifying the perioperative DVT risk profile will improve surgeons' ability to assess patients for surgical candidacy. In addition, these data will help to identify patients who would benefit from DVT chemoprophylaxis. METHODS: We evaluated all medical records for 1346 consecutive patients who underwent spinal surgery at Duke University for incidence of DVT within 30 days of surgery and documented all demographic, preoperative, operative, and postoperative variables. DVT treatment and long-term outcomes were also documented. Associations between postoperative DVT and individual risk factors in all patients were determined using adjusted logistic regression analysis. Patients were stratified into emergent and elective groups and a similar analysis was performed. RESULTS: Overall, 15 patients (1.1%) had a DVT in the 30 days after surgery, 7 patients (0.6%) after elective surgery and 8 patients (4.2%) after emergent surgery (P = 0.03). Overall, multivariate logistic regression determined that previous DVT, postoperative urinary tract infection, and creatinine level >2.0 mg/dL were identified as positive predictors. When stratified by emergent surgery, we found packed red blood cell transfusion, surgical blood loss >2.0 L, and deep surgical site infection to be independently associated with increased risk of postoperative DVT. When stratified by elective surgery, we found that coronary artery disease and atrial fibrillation were associated with increased risk of DVT. No patients died in the 30-day perioperative period and 5 (33.3%) patients died within 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: This study identifies patient factors predictive of postoperative DVT. Postoperative DVT prophylaxis may be warranted for patients undergoing emergent spine surgery because these patients have significantly higher risk of developing postoperative DVT.