A Smartphone App to Reduce Burnout in the Emergency Department: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background: Burnout is a significant concern among health care professionals, particularly those working in the emergency department (ED). Given the negative personal and professional consequences that burnout can have on all health care professionals, multidisciplinary solutions are needed to address burnout. Our objective was to evaluate the feasibility and potential impact of resilience training delivered through a smartphone application on burnout among health care professionals working at a tertiary-care pediatric ED. Methods: We conducted a single-center pilot randomized controlled study enrolling multidisciplinary health care professionals working in our ED. Participants assigned to the intervention group received self-driven access to a smartphone application that provided a structured resilience curriculum for a period of 3 months. The participants completed psychometric assessments both prior to and following the invention period. Changes in psychometric measures of the intervention group were then compared with a waitlist-control group. Results: Following the intervention period, a total of 20 participants were included in the final analysis. The change in participant scores on psychometric measures prior to and following the intervention period was calculated. A statistically significant mean decrease in burnout measure (emotional exhaustion subscale of Maslach-Burnout Inventory mean score −5.88, p < .001) and increase in mindfulness measure (Mindful Attention Awareness Scale mean score 0.51, p < .001) was observed among the intervention group participants. Conclusions/Application to Practice: Our study suggests that a resilience training program delivered using a smartphone application can be an effective intervention in reducing burnout and increasing mindfulness skills. Our study also demonstrated the potential feasibility of a randomized controlled study of burnout within a multidisciplinary group of health care professionals.