Stressors Contributing to Burnout Among Acute Care and Trauma Surgery Care Teams: A Systems-Analysis Approach

Details

• Personal Author:
  Adapa K ; Charguia N ; Goodacre V ; Greenberg C ; Ivester T ; Kwong E ; Marks LB ; Mazur L ; Ra J ; Vizer L
• Description:
  Background: Burnout negatively impacts healthcare professionals' well-being, leading to an increased risk of human errors and patient harm. There are limited assessments of burnout and associated stressors among acute care and trauma surgery teams. Methods: Acute care and trauma surgery team members at a US academic medical center were administered a survey that included a 2-item Maslach Burnout Inventory and 21 workplace stressors based on the National Academy of Medicine's systems model of clinician burnout and professional well-being. Stressors were summarized and presented to participants in focus groups. Contextual inquiries (CIs) were conducted to gather additional information about key stressors. Qualitative data were used to generate an affinity model, which participants then validated and used to prioritize top stressors. Participants rated stressors by level of impact and level of effort, and improvement recommendations were made based on these results. Results: 74% (n=14/19) acute care and trauma surgery team members reported high burnout. Key stressors included inadequate staffing, organizational culture, excessive workload, and inefficient workflows. Attending faculty (surgeons) classified the following key priorities for improvement: (i) improve throughput and patient flow, (ii) provide better information technology support, and (iii) improve rewards and support. Non-faculty (advanced practice providers (APPs), nurses, staff) classified the following for improvement: (i) align APP job responsibilities, (ii) improve lack of recognition from leadership, and (iii) robust and consistent APP training. Conclusions: A contextual design approach to studying burnout using surveys, focus groups, CIs, modeling, and validation and prioritization is a feasible method for identifying key stressors and improvements that may enable more impactful and appropriately targeted interventions. Results indicate high levels of burnout among acute care and trauma surgery team members, requiring prioritized attention to operational and relationship issues necessary to care for patients. Efforts to improve surgery teams' workflows, auxiliary support, compensation, and relationships with leadership may address burnout. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Health Personnel Occupational Health Safety Stress, Psychological
• Keywords:
  Burnout COVID-19 Health Care Workers Job Stress Qualitative Analysis Surgeons Wellbeing Work Operations
• ISSN:
  2397-5776
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Atlanta Region [OSHA] ; North Carolina
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  10
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070600
• Citation:
  Trauma Surg Acute Care Open 2025 Jan; 10(1):e001377
• Contact Point Address:
  Lukasz Mazur, Division of Healthcare Engineering, Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
• Email:
  lukasz_mazur@med.unc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• NORA Priority Area:
  Healthcare and Social Assistance
• Performing Organization:
  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20210901
• Source Full Name:
  Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open
• End Date:
  20260831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c5d479bfa50155e5f0c6753b59207bffb008f0164fb6440e0a9b0ba90c480a04639778b784f8e4f89f38134c41c458e6f0f4c53c59c755b0cecbc9dd8f1f3716
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/208779/cdc_208779_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 405.56 KB ]