Burnout in the Emergency Department hospital staff at Cork University Hospital

Background and aims

Healthcare professionals are exposed to high levels of stress in the course of their profession and are particularly susceptible to experiencing burnout. In the USA, burnout among physicians is highly prevalent, exceeding that of other workers. Little literature has been published describing burnout prevalence in the context of the Irish emergency healthcare population. We conducted a survey to determine burnout in the Emergency Department hospital staff at Cork University Hospital (CUH).

Methods

This is a prospective inclusive cross-sectional study assessing burnout with the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI). Over 90 staff (physicians, nurses, administrators, radiographers, care assistants, and porters) participated. Provider demographic differences were documented and comparisons of burnout were made between this study population and previous international studies.

Results

Sixty-three percent of administrators (8), 100% of care assistants (3), 78% of nurses (50), 70% of physicians (23), 67% of porters (3), and 80% of radiographers (10) met the criteria for burnout (75% overall). Burnout was significantly associated with a history of depression (p = 0.030). The burnout rates were not significantly different between professions (p = 0.77), age groups (p = 0.078), years working in the ED (p = 0.16), or gender (p = 0.46).

Discussion and conclusions

Burnout is very common in the Emergency Department at CUH. Approximately three out of four staff met the cutoff for burnout. Self-reported depression was also significantly associated with burnout.