Assessing and addressing practitioner burnout: Results from an advanced practice registered nurse health and well-being study

Abstract

Background: Numerous nursing and physician studies have reported the effects of workload, environment, and life circumstances contributing to burnout. Effects may include job dissatisfaction, poor quality of life, and associated negative patient outcomes. Although assessing clinician burnout to determine effective interventions has become a topic of great importance, there are minimal studies specific to advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). Purpose: This single-center study was conducted to assess the prevalence and impact of APRN burnout and to recommend targeted interventions toward improvement of overall health and well-being. Methods: A cross-sectional, mixed methods design was used. The voluntary, anonymous survey examined perceptions of wellness, inclusion, social support, personal coping mechanisms, and status of burnout. Results: The 78-question survey was sent to 1,014 APRNs (94%) and PAs (6%), with a 43.6% response rate (n = 433); 76.4% were nurse practitioners. Participants were identified as currently experiencing burnout, formerly burned out, or never having experienced burnout. Profiles were developed, and similarities and differences between each group were compared. Of 433 respondents, 40.4% (n = 175) reported having never experienced burnout, 33.3% (n = 144) reported they had formerly experienced burnout, and 26.3% (n = 114) reported they were currently experiencing burnout. Implications for practice: The results of the study identified that some APRNs report experiencing burnout at different times in their careers. Recommendations by participants to mitigate burnout included self-care, organizational promotion of health and well-being, career development, and leadership support. This study is one of the first to report on burnout among APRNs and potential interventions to build resilience; however, additional research is warranted.

Reappraising Burnout Syndrome in Healthcare under Sars-Cov-2 Pandemic

“…In this group, perhaps as in others, there is evidence that this state may lead to other clinical cases including depressive episodes [19,38,41,45,48] and suicide [7,42,49] and into experiencing professional life as negative [33]. Yet there are also various negative consequences [50] to the quality of patient care [43] including the dissatisfaction of patients [51,52] poor working environment that impairs teamwork, increased medical errors [3,5,53] increased post-discharge recovery time [6] increased hospital readmissions [40] more medical-legal disputes, reduced adherence to therapy [54] loss of empathy [48,55] and, as above, medically justified leaves [56]. Given the possibility of suicide, some risk factors [48] such as substance abuse, untreated depression and active suicidal ideation should be taken into consideration.…”

Creating a Blueprint of Well-Being in Oncology: An Approach for Addressing Burnout From ASCO’s Clinician Well-Being Taskforce

“…Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic trajectory, there has been a notable and wide-ranging impact on all oncology team members (Sidebar 2). [32][33][34] In a 2020 national study, 31.7% of PAs across all specialties reported that they worked without necessary personal protection equipment, 3.6% had been infected with COVID-19, and 72.4% were at least somewhat concerned about their health or their family's health. 35 The pandemic has also impacted the wellbeing of PAs.…”

A Scoping Review of Health Information Technology in Clinician Burnout

“…6 In a 2020 survey to advance practice registered nurses and physician assistants at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 59.6% of respondents reported that they had experienced or were currently experiencing burnout. 7 As clinicians are key players in the healthcare process, burnout also jeopardizes the well-being of patients, coworkers, and the public health system as a whole. 1,8 Clinicians suffering from burnout risk making medical errors and are more likely to leave their field entirely, which would compromise the quality of patient care, experience and satisfaction with care, increased costs related to errors, and the future of the medical system.…”